FOKUS AMERIKA Almut Wieland-Karimi 1023 15 th Street NW,# 801 Washington, DC 20005 USA Tel.:+1 202 408 5444 Fax:+1 202 408 5537 fesdc@fesdc.org www.fesdc.org Squaring the Circle? Reforming the U.S. Health Care System Karen Davenport 1 Nr. 2/ 2009 • Although the United States spends more money on health care than any other country in the world, the health care system is not able to provide sufficient care for people in need. The system is in dire need of improvement, as a consequence of increasing health care costs, a growing number of people without any health insurance and the substandard of the care’s quality. • In order to reform the system, U.S. President Barack Obama has developed an initial strategy to make coverage more affordable for the American people and reduce costs by improving the care de­livery system. However, the President has not introduced health reform legislation yet. Additionally, Obama’s plan is challenged by alternative proposals from Congress. • The reauthorization of the State Child’s Health Insurance Program(SCHIP) is an early success for the President’s new health care plan. Furthermore, the economic stimulus package allows additional investments in health information technology and effectiveness research. • The current federal budget process will be another crucial factor for providing a more efficient health care system in the US. • There is wide political and public support for health reform and President Obama is committed to enact legislation in 2009. While this does not guarantee success, prospects are better than in the past, simply because the U.S. cannot afford to fail again at health care reform. In the closing days of the 2008 Presidential cam­paign, candidate Barack Obama placed a new emphasis on health care issues in his campaign advertising and campaign appearances. This focus on health care reform, in particular his plan to expand coverage and control rising health care costs, reflected not only the renewed salience of this domestic policy issue, but also foreshad­owed the attention health care issues would com­mand early in his Presidency. Since the election, President Obama has hosted a White House Health Care Summit and sponsored three town hall forums, with at least two more to come. More than 9,000 Americans have participated in Health Care Community Discussions to send their thoughts on how to fix the health care sy-