As we all well know, President Obama has been focused largely on reforming our nation’s health care system. One of the biggest adjustments he is trying to create is a greater abundance and utilization of preventive health services.

So why is encouraging preventive health care such a keystone element of President Obama’s health care reform? The bottom line is that if Americans took advantage of their preventive health services; namely, their annual exams (including blood work and immunizations) millions of serious and life threatening illnesses could be prevented early on. Not only is it easier to prevent and conquer an illness early on in its stages of development, but if caught too late the procedures and treatment can often be useless and quite costly.

To no surprise, congress is still struggling on how to pay for Obama’s proposed health insurance reform. With the deadline of July 31st to have this reform passed, congress has begun to implement new ideas on how to compensate such a large expenditure.

The house of democrats has suggested the idea of incorporating a sin tax to help offset this cost. Specifically, they are proposing that everyday items such as soft drinks, junk food, and even additional taxes on tobacco products be applied.

Insuring the roughly 44 million Americans who lack health coverage seems like a great idea, but how will such a project be funded? This dilemma has proven to be one of the biggest obstacles facing Obama’s health care proposal as they struggle to determine the means by which to create an estimated $1.2 trillion required over the next decade.

Much doubt has been placed upon Obama’s original proposal for financing his health care reform; namely, people fear the funds will be inadequate, and have even referred to his financing proposal as a “down payment” on the larger issue. Obama plans on generating over $300 billion over the next 10 years by incorporating tax increases on mortgage and charity deductions for wealthier Americans. This barely scratches the surface of the plans overall cost.