Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1520
20 | James Hubbard's My Family Doctor | The Magazine That Makes Housecalls rules of engagement: We invited each participant to write an argument, then read the opponent's argument and, if desired, write a rebuttal. Neither was allowed to read the other's initial argument before writing his own, and neither could read the other's response before rebutting. The Great DeBATe President obama's health-Care Plan I n our January/february 2008 issue, we featured a debate on universal health care. that article has gone on to become the most popular one on www.MyfamilydoctorMag.com—and there's quite a continuing debate from readers in the comments section. now that barack obama is president and looking to implement universal health care, we contacted our debaters for a follow-up. this time, we asked them, assuming a universal plan will happen, is Presi- dent Obama's headed in the right direction? according to his Web site, some of the things obama's plan includes are: • requiring insurance companies to cover pre-exist- ing conditions. • creating a small-business health tax credit to help them provide insurance. • requiring large employers that don't offer cover- age to contribute a percentage of payroll toward their employees' health-care costs. • establishing "a National Health Insurance Ex- change with a range of private insurance options as well as a new public plan based on benefits available to members of Congress ...." the costs of these new plans, says the site, will come from "rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level." in response to obama's first state of the union speech, louisiana governor bobby Jindal said: republicans … stand for universal access to af- fordable health-care coverage. What we oppose is universal government-run health care. health-care decisions should be made by doctors and patients, not by government bureaucrats. We believe ameri- cans can do anything, and if we put aside partisan politics and work together, we can make our sys- tem of private medicine affordable and accessible for every one of our citizens. our debaters wrote their arguments in early March. details, such as gov. sebelius's status (which dr. Whelan mentions) may have changed by the time you read this. yes: Patrick Whelan, M.D, Ph.D., practicing rheumatologist and director of Catholic Democrats, "a national non-profit organization of concerned Catholics." No: John S. O'Shea, M.D., M.P.A., F.A.C.S., practicing general surgeon; president and founder of Doctor- Patient Health Policy Foundation, educating patients and physicians about health policy issues; and former fellow with conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.