Senator Obama Responds To Five Questions About His Health Care Plan To SpineUniverse.com

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: Bones / Orthopaedics
Article Date: 03 Nov 2008 - 5:00 PST

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Senator Barack Obama, Democratic candidate for President, answered five questions about his health care plan to SpineUniverse.com. Now every visitor to SpineUniverse.com -- people who have an intense interest in the state of health care because of back pain or neck pain -- can examine how Sen. Obama's plan would affect them. (SpineUniverse also contacted Sen. John McCain's campaign, but he did not respond.)

Sen. Obama explained to http://www.SpineUniverse.com how:

- his plan would help the uninsured and underinsured in America
- the Obama-Biden plan would benefit small businesses through the Small Business Health Tax Credit
- his administration would ensure all children have medical coverage
- he would work to invest in technologies as a way to improve our health care system

He also gave three key points that voters should remember about the Obama-Biden health care plan, including that he will guarantee affordable, accessible coverage for all Americans. You can read Sen. Obama's answers here.

"Sen. Obama's health care plan includes an emphasis on preventive care, and that's a very important point for back and neck pain sufferers," explains Stephen Ondra, MD, Professor of Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University. "With accessible coverage for all, Americans will be able to get much-needed spinal care at the first sign of a problem, which may help them avoid developing a chronic back condition."

Ondra continues, "The Obama plan, with its emphasis on improving health IT, will also help spine patients receive better care by making it easier for medical professionals to coordinate care."

In conjunction with the Obama interview, SpineUniverse.com also just released results from its September 2008 survey that took a closer look at the politics of back pain. The results show an intriguing cross-section of America and should help voters think through the presidential candidates' health care plans.

Read full results from the SpineUniverse.com survey here.

In the survey, 96% of people said that back pain is a serious health concern--serious because it costs the American people time, productivity, and a lot of money. Every year, back and neck pain cost us $90 billion, and in a time of national penny-pinching, it makes sense that reducing back pain would be fiscally responsible.

Like so many proposed programs during this election year, Republicans and Democrats can't quite agree on how to reduce back pain and eventually reduce that $90 billion cost. 24% of Democrats believe that having affordable, quality care that's accessible by all would save our backs. Just 12% of Republicans chose universal health coverage as a viable option for back pain prevention, but 25% of Republicans think that encouraging weight loss would be the most effective way to reduce Americans' back pain.

It looks like even our approach to back pain labels us as red or blue. So when back pain sufferers head into the voting booth on Election Day--and 4 out of every 5 voters will have back pain at some point in their lives--they should think carefully about which candidate's health care plan they believe will help them the most.

About SpineUniverse

SpineUniverse, the most-visited spine-focused site on the web, provides online and offline resources for both patients and spine professionals. SpineUniverse.com helps patients and their families understand their back or neck problems with clear, straightforward explanations about what causes spinal problems and how they can be treated. SpineUniverse.com/professional features an industry-leading library of patient case studies and education resources. Relying on an 80 member Editorial Board of leading spine experts, SpineUniverse ensures that all information presented is trustworthy and of the highest quality.

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