[ti:Historic Measure Expands Health Coverage] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:03.72]Economics Report. [00:05.58]President Obama has signed [00:07.95]legislation to reform [00:09.75]the health care system [00:12.05]in the United States. [00:13.73]The main goal is to insure [00:16.48]about thirty-two million [00:19.10]additional people. [00:21.15]That is about ninety-five percent [00:23.95]of Americans who are not [00:26.06]already covered by Medicare, [00:28.68]the government insurance program [00:31.04]for older people. [00:32.66]About sixteen million people [00:36.14]will be added to Medicaid, [00:38.25]the government health plan [00:40.37]for the poor. [00:41.92]The law will require Americans [00:44.79]to have health insurance, [00:47.40]with a few exceptions, [00:49.33]or pay a fine starting [00:51.69]in four years. [00:53.43]Also, in four years, [00:56.05]employers with more than [00:58.18]fifty workers will have [01:00.41]to offer their employees [01:02.09]a health insurance plan. [01:04.83]Employers will pay a fine [01:07.38]for each uninsured worker. [01:10.68]Smaller businesses will [01:12.86]receive tax credits to help [01:15.28]pay for health plans. [01:17.64]People not covered [01:19.57]by employer plans, Medicaid [01:22.62]or Medicare could buy [01:24.86]health insurance [01:27.04]in marketplaces called exchanges. [01:30.47]The idea is that competition [01:33.57]among plans will drive down costs. [01:37.25]States will provide [01:39.86]these exchanges by twenty fourteen. [01:43.85]The law is the biggest change [01:46.79]in American health care [01:48.90]since nineteen sixty-five. [01:51.58]But it is not a government [01:54.12]operated health care system [01:56.67]like the ones in other countries. [01:59.23]President Obama says [02:01.03]it provides limited reform. [02:03.95]BARACK OBAMA: "So this is not [02:05.32]radical reform. But it is major reform. [02:08.43]This legislation will not [02:10.42]fix everything that ails [02:11.42]our health care system. [02:12.97]But it moves us decisively [02:15.03]in the right direction." [02:15.96]Barry Arbuckle is chief executive [02:19.19]of the non-profit [02:20.56]MemorialCare Health System [02:23.24]in Fountain Valley, California. [02:25.72]He says the new law gets [02:28.27]the issue of health reform moving. [02:30.89]But he notes it is mainly health [02:34.18]insurance reform. [02:36.18]He says lawmakers will have [02:38.97]to reform the way health care [02:41.28]is provided. [02:43.02]That means finding ways [02:45.07]for hospitals, doctors [02:47.31]and other providers [02:49.24]to work together more effectively. [02:52.47]Mister Arbuckle also would like [02:55.58]to see more attention [02:57.39]on prevention so fewer people [03:00.18]need costly medical treatment. [03:03.23]The law is expected to cost about [03:07.09]nine hundred forty billion dollars [03:10.01]over ten years. However, [03:13.25]the Obama administration says [03:15.86]the plan will cut the nation's [03:18.60]budget deficit by more than [03:21.46]one hundred billion dollars [03:23.70]during that period. [03:25.87]Last year, the United States [03:28.98]spent two and a half trillion [03:31.85]dollars on health care. [03:34.08]his was an increase of almost [03:36.95]six percent from the year before. [03:40.31]And that's the VOA Special English [03:44.53]Economics Report, [03:46.34]written by Mario Ritter. [03:48.70]I'm Steve Ember.