Friday, January 07, 2011
Expert Says Health Care Reform Good, Information Inadequate
Health care reform as presented will be good for Americans, according to Dr. Joel Rudin, a professor in the Management and Entrepreneurship Department in the Rohrer College of Business at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J.
What hasn’t been good is how officials have explained the policy, and that is impacting what U.S. citizens think of it.
“My health insurance is unlikely to improve thanks to health care reform. Why? Because my health insurance is already really good, and if I am ever dissatisfied with it then once a year I can switch over to another really good health insurance plan. Why is my health insurance so good? Is it because I earned it by committing a feat of bravery? No, it’s because I work for the State of New Jersey. So many employees work for the State of New Jersey that it’s worthwhile for health insurance companies to compete against each other for our business, which means that we get lower rates and better service than if we worked for Fred’s Garage with 20 employees,” Rudin said.
He added, “Under health care reform, most Americans will have health insurance that is similar to my health insurance, but that won’t happen until 2014. By then, the people who came up with this idea may have been voted out of office. If that happens it will be their own fault for failing to explain to the American people how much better and cheaper their health insurance will be.”
Rudin said of health care changes:
1) Most Americans will have better and cheaper health care in 2014 than they have now, while few if any Americans will have worse or more expensive health care in 2014 than they have now.
2) Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will have a much easier time recruiting and retaining employees starting in 2014 thanks to health care reform.
3) It’s good that every American will have to sign up for health insurance or pay a fine, as health care reform would otherwise collapse.
4) The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that health care reform will pay for itself and even generate a surplus for the government.
Rudin is the coordinator of the Human Resource Management specialization at Rowan and advisor of the student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. He earned a Ph.D. in human resource management from Cornell University and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources.
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