• Health insurance reform was the mostly firecly fought-over issue in the 2009 congress.capitol image by Andrew Breeden from Fotolia.com
  
  Health insurance reform was the most contentious political debate of 2009 and early 2010 in America. The push for reform was centered on two main problems: cost and coverage. The cost of health care premiums in America has risen, and the amount spent on health care in 2009 was 17.3 percent of the total economy (or 2.5 trillion dollars). The American health care system is the most expensive in the world and yet 45 million people (17 percent) are uninsured. Other issues, like people being denied coverage for having a pre-existing condition, have also spurred the need for reform.
  
  

Public Option

• One possible way to reform health insurance would be through the creation of a public option. This means creating a government-run insurance plan that citizens could purchase. Because it could be run as a public utility, as in for the public good and not just to make profit, this plan would ideally offer lower costs and fewer denied claims. The competition of a public plan would also, ideally, force private health insurance companies to change policies like charging very high premiums and making it difficult to get a claim filled.
  
  

Tort Reform and Tax changes

• Tort reform would make it harder to sue doctors and hospitals if there is a problem with the care they provide. This would, ideally, lower the cost malpractice insurance and thus lower the cost of care. Changing tax laws to make personal health care plans completely tax deductible would, ideally, encourage people to purchase plans and help them pay for them with tax savings.
  
  

Expand Medicare

• Medicare is a program run by the government that provides insurance for Americans over the age of 65. Since this program is already in place, and is generally very popular, it could be expanded to cover younger people without creating a whole new apparatus. This would, ideally, provide coverage for those who are now uninsured.