Local residents display "Guaranteed Healthcare" sign during a march in Austin, TX

On Sunday, our nation made a historic leap in some direction as the health care reform bill passed in Congress, however speculation towards which direction this bill will take is under some debate throughout the nation.

Local San Marcos residents, including Texas State students and staffers, are particularly incensed about the impact this bill will have on the future of the country and their own.

With so recent a pass for reform of the entire health care system in the United States, it’s difficult to tell at this point what the future will hold. The long bill includes provisions for reform and expansions of health care to 32 million Americans that are uninsured. For a number so large, local residents both young and old seem not to have any idea what is to come or what is included in the reform. In Texas, the number of uninsured citizens goes up to 6.1 million Americans.

For Dr. Carranco, the director of the Texas State University Student Health Center, the sight of so many Americans being turned away by hospitals or insurance companies for expensive illnesses or pre-existing conditions that were not recognized was a shame. For Carranco, the extended coverage has a great impact on both the health care profession as well as for American citize

ns including young people aged 19 to 25.

Texas State Student Health Center

“Young people are some of the highest uninsured in our nation,” Carranco said. “This is interesting in that they are the healthiest citizens, however they must be the most responsible in their future with so many provisions for young people. I’m happy that the country is taking steps to provide insurance to all of its citizens."

Jesus Cahue, an undeclared major at Texas State and a full-time call service employee in San Marcos, shared this optimism towards the bill and felt that the nation was taking a great leap forward. From a personal perspective, his trouble with the health care system in his life previously made him very pro-reform, including a battle with the state of Texas over his younger sister's diagnosed condition of lupus. His younger sister won this lawsuit and was rewarded with social security, however Cahue wondered strongly about the well-being of other impoverished families.

"I feel that a big weight has been taken off for my family and myself, and that reform is truly a big gain for our nation," Cahue commented. "For families who don't have money or resources and don't have the coverage they need, this is a huge step forward."

Among the troubles that this nation faces, Cahue expressed some concern that the United States, as an extremely developed country, has not made health care a public option before now which has caused the uphill battle we face. For Jonathan Monjaras however, a Geography major at Texas State and an employee at Gap at the Tanger Outlets in San Marcos, there is much concern in the public option of health care for the United States as a nation compared to other nations.

"I feel that this country is attempting to move towards a public health standard as seen in Europe or Canada,” Monjaras said. “I don’t feel that this will work, particularly for health insurance companies, since they have much smaller populations than our country. I feel it will be much more difficult for our country’s health care to expand to quite the size of our nation.”

Many other Texas State students expressed some doubts towards the new health care bill and its provisions as a public option as well, including Aaron Hilton, an undeclared major at Texas State and self-proclaimed political activist. According to Hilton, the long provisions in the bill will be very difficult for the country to work out but he feel s that it is a necessary step for our country to move forward.

"I am very scared about government control, so I have my doubts about the bill," Hilton said. "However, the nature of providing health care to the disenfranchised and telling a four year old child that they can have treatment is something I stand behind."

Most students, while not being completely certain on the provisions of the bill, agree that the bill will have a great impact on their lives in the future. Dr. Carranco agreed, and felt that the nation as a whole could benefit from being more responsible as citizens with coverage.

"One must only look at history to learn about how the bill will be implemented, with provisions such as social security and Medicare having undergone the same process," Carranco said. "Over decades I feel this will be a good reform for the economy and our future. There will be extended coverage, more doctors and work, and the nation will be more healthy and productive.”

Obama signs Health care bill; Pete Souza, The White House