Obama's new healthcare plan

Obama presented his new healthcare plan today which includes aspects of both Democratic and Republican proposals for reforming the system. The two parties have been so divided about the issue and now at least Obama is trying to take a middle ground and bridge the gap that separates the two parties in regards to this issue. Under the new plan people would be required to buy health insurance and provides subsidized care for people who can't afford coverage. It also would allow for insurance companies to sell over state lines and would allow people to shop around for coverage to find plans that are less expensive.

The article that I got this information was entitled Obama Health Care Plan's Price Tag Jumps to $950 Billion" which was interesting since it focused solely on how the cost of the plan would increase to $950 billion rather than providing any information regarding what the new plan would really do for people. Since peoples' preoccupation with the reform's high cost seems to have helped to stall the progress of reform thus far. I feel like this article was framed in terms of the bill's cost is an example of what Jamieson & Waldman describe in their book the Press effect as the press acting in its role as a shaper of events.

In bringing the public's attention to the bill just by mentioning its high cost first, the press may only be serving to turn people against the bill since the high cost turns people off. I realize the media wants to attract the public and is more likely to take a controversial angle on issues in order to sell newspapers and get viewers to watch their broadcasts.

At the same time, I feel like instead of mentioning the price up front, if the article was entitled something like "New Obama plan seeks to breach the gap between Republicans and Democrats" perhaps it would get people to read about the plan without prejudging it as too expensive. I know cost is really important and I don't think it should buried in the article but as I said before, finding out even before reading the article that the bill would cost so much may just make people not even want to hear about the plan. People have to be made more aware of what this plan would do because if they lack this knowledge and just oppose the bill because of the price without knowing the facts then I feel like the bill is more likely to fail or to be set aside for an indeterminate period of time. While this article does outline the plan, the fact that the title could turn people off from reading it shows how the media can have the power to assist in the making or breaking of legislation.

Source: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/22/obama-unveiling-modified-health-care-plan-today/?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F02%2F22%2Fobama-unveiling-modified-health-care-plan-today%2F