By Yang Qingchuan
US President Barack Obama came into office amid tremendous challenges in January, especially the two overseas wars and the "once-in-a-generation" financial crisis, but now what troubles him most seems to be neither of them.
It's "Obamacare," a new jargon coined by US press to describe the president's ambitious blueprint to overhaul the country's problematic health care system.
In recent months, Obama has intensified efforts to mobilize support for the health care reform but the results are not encouraging.
The Congress missed his target to work out a unified plan before the summer recess starting early this month.
There are growing protests nationwide against "Obamacare" fueled by Republicans and big businesses.
More importantly, polls show Americans are growingly skeptical of the president's plan with more people opposing it now than those who endorse it.
With apparent political advantages on the president's side, the "Obamacare" still stumbles.
Magnitude of the problem
The immediate reasons for it, analysts said, seem to be that the president may have underestimated the magnitude and complexity of the health care system.
Simply put, the US health care system is a "paradox of excess and deprivation," as Jonathan Oberlander, a political analyst on health care issues, summarized.
On one hand, the United States tops the world in terms of medical science, number of health professionals and the diversity of health care choices.
On the other hand, the cost/output ratio of the system seems to be amazingly low, while 15 percent of the population still has no health insurance.
The United States spends more money on health care than any other nation: 2.5 trillion US dollars annually and over 8,000 dollars per person, and yet its average life expectancy ranks at the bottom of all developed nations.
Many critics said it's a national shame for the country to be the only developed nation without a universal health care system.
Moreover, economic statistics show the huge financial burden of health care is a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States. The problem only gets worse under current economic downturn.
Obama has been advocating an overhaul of the health care system since the time he ran for president and has made health care reform a signature policy of his presidency after taking office.
In a June speech, the president made his case for a quick action.
"Make no mistake: the cost of our health care is a threat to our economy. It's an escalating burden on our families and businesses. It's a ticking time-bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America."
Being a political tactician, Obama obviously took the lessons of the failed health care reform during the Clinton presidency when he pushed forward his own agenda.
To avoid a White House-Congress showdown, he left the work of drafting health care legislation to the Democrats in Congress; He also tried to get insurance companies, hospitals and doctors involved in the process; He promised the middle class folks that they don't have to change their insurance plans if they are satisfied with the status quo.
The president also made speech tours across the country and sent Democratic lawmakers to town hall meetings, trying to mobilize support from grassroots.
However, Obama is still besieged by the magnitude of the complexity and the challenges of the health care system.
In a political sense, he failed to soften Republican opposition and was unable to unify his own party behind him.
Economically, neither him nor Democratic leaders can explain how exactly the huge costs of the reform and the health care systems can be reduced or won't add up to the country's skyrocketing deficits.
