The new Obama administration is finally bringing the U.S. health care system under scrutiny. The broken system is inefficient, has wrong intentions and is too costly. The price Americans pay for this hole-ridden system is more than just money—it’s American lives. The newly proposed bill is a step in the right direction to combat the ills in the health care system and ensure that Americans receive the treatment they need.

The United States spends about 17 percent of its GDP on health care, significantly more than how much other industrialized nations spend. Even France, which was deemed by the World Health Organization to have the best health care system in the world, spends nearly a quarter less on health care than the U.S. does.

Furthermore, not all Americans are covered under the current system, and quality health care is not guaranteed. In the United States, a “fee for service” model rules the health care industry. Under this model, doctors are paid for each service that they provide for the patients. The more office visits patients make and the more tests a doctor performs, the more money the doctor will earn. Because of this, simple greed prevails. Why help Joe Six-Pack with his cholesterol problem today when one can ask him to come back another day, take a blood test, and then come back another time to get a follow-up? These visits mean more profit for doctors, but delayed treatment and higher costs for poor Joe.

The proposed bill plans to combat this inefficiency by eliminating the “fee for service” model. Instead, doctors would receive a fixed salary regardless of the procedures they perform. In fact, the Mayo Clinic, a medical treatment and research center, already uses this model and pays its doctors a fixed salary. According to research by Dartmouth College, the Mayo Clinic spends 28 percent below the national average on treating its patients. Not to mention it also provides world-class quality care.

Obama’s plan seeks to follow in the Mayo Clinic’s steps of emphasizing preventative medicine. Although it may not significantly reduce government spending on care, it allows Americans to take control of their own body, resulting in them leading healthier lifestyles. The new system aims to nip problems at the bud, which can save many patients from the agony of a terminal illness that could have been prevented by early detection.

Another loop-hole lies in the realm of health administration. According to an estimate by the McKinsey Global Institute, “health administration and insurance” accounted for up to 21 percent of the estimated total excess spending in health care.

Opponents of the bill characterize it as a Big Brother maneuver and claim that the government will take control of American lives and decide whether we live or die. Sarah Palin described Obama’s health care plan as a “downright evil” on her Facebook page in early August and wrote that Americans “will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’.” Sorry Palin, but this simply is not true. The government will not decide whether or not a patient receives euthanasia or not.

Furthermore, Americans who are satisfied with their current health care program can keep the same provider. The government is merely providing an option for those who cannot afford health care. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 46 million Americans, about 18 percent of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance in 2007. The government provides Medicare for people over 65 and the disabled, and Medicaid, for certain low-income families and individuals only.