As the debate for national health care reform continues, the issue has become a divisive talking point between students.”I don’t think the average student has been given the tools to make an educated student on their own,” said Celeste Carney, the University Student Health Center Insurance Office coordinator. “What I am concerned about is whether or not everyone is going to actually read the facts of the bill to make an educated smart decision on the bill.”The controversial reform plan will be adjusted and changed as it is currently being debated in congress.Carney said the plan has three major points. The first is lowering the cost of health care through numerous controversial methods including streamlining existing healthcare systems. The second goal of the plan is to ensure affordable and accessible coverage for everyone. The plan does this through various tax credits and guaranteeing eligibility even for those who have pre-existing conditions. The third goal of the reform is strengthen public health by promoting preventative measures like healthy lifestyles.”The plan is almost 1000 pages long so does any one person have time to sit down and read it all,” Carney said. “The first thing I would recommend to students is to actually look at the issue that means doing a little research. Get online spend some time looking at the goals and how the goals are proposed to be implemented.”Carney said although the issue is very complicated students should be concerned about the issue.”It something that should be important to students because when we graduate we are going to be or are already off our parents tickets so we are going to need health care,” said Frank Lopiccolo, sociology senior.Central to the debate over the reform is the question if health care is a right everyone should have and if it should be the general public responsibility to pay for less fortunate people’s health care, Carney said.”It is a person’s right, but the way health care is, they are making it a luxury because premiums are so much and it is so expensive to cover yourself for health care so not everyone has it,” said Jessica Chatelain, communication studies senior. “Everyone should have it but some people can’t afford it and some people are paying 600 dollars a month for it.”Carney said the bill does many things to help the average person, but the hefty price of $634 billion over ten years is a major concern in the way of reform. To help offset the cost of the reform Obama has suggested cutting annual tax credits from households making $250,000 or more annually.”I’m one of those people who is not covered under health insurance,” Evan Prange, business finance senior. “I view it as my responsibility to get the health insurance I need. Because just like many other things in my life it is my responsibility to get the health care I need just like a roof over my head and food to eat health care can be no different.”—–Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]