Reflection

I knew little about North Carolina’s health care issues before doing this blog, but I thought I was informed on Obamacare and its main aspects. I found out, through this blog, that I wasn’t as informed as I had thought. I knew that I was opposed to Obamacare because the federal government shouldn’t be able to force U.S. citizens into buying health insurance and because it would raise prices for consumers, and I maintained these views, but I didn’t know about many of Obamacare’s other aspects, such as insurance companies not being allowed to refuse coverage to an individual with a pre-existing condition or that businesses would have to provide health insurance for their full-time employees. This project forced me to delve deeper into Obamacare and all of its aspects and effects.

My research led me to develop a more moderate view of the Affordable Care Act, as it as many good aspects such as providing subsidies and other types of aid for individuals and families who don’t make a lot of money and ensuring that people with pre-existing conditions won’t be turned away by insurers. However, some of my views were only reinforced. The additional costs to health care the Affordable Care Act will present, for example, is undeniable. I was able to understand North Carolina’s decision not to run the exchange, but I saw flaws in these plans as not having a state-run exchange probably led to the lack of competition and high rates.

Blog writing has forced me to keep up with my issue and further investigate the different aspects of it. This has taught me to do the same with other issues, especially those I am passionate about. I have grown from a more passive thinker to actually wanting to discover more on topics I hear about and may already think I know about. I have become more active in turning my opinions into educated stands. I now better understand the reasoning of each side and so can better defend my position. I will not base my own ideals on others’ opinions but search for the facts behind issues and form my own stand from these. Passion about a topic is important, but that passion should be based on research and facts and understanding all sides rather than just emotional reactions not based on legitimate information.