Addressing a packed room of students and faculty in the Cornell Law School, two distinct political minds squared off in a debate Tuesday over the Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling to uphold most of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

The President has already lost on the Affordable Care Act.

Cornell faculty and staff subscribed to the University’s endowed health plan will experience moderate increases in co-payment rates beginning January 2012.

In light of federal health care reforms, Cornell administrators are examining how new regulations will affect the University’s Student Health Insurance Plan. On Sept. 23, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23 — began allowing dependents to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26, regardless of the dependents’ student status, marital status or tax relationship with their parents.

Jon Weinberg '13 considers the pluses and minuses of CornellCare now that ObamaCare lets students stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26.

 Humanity has practiced and developed medicine for over 4,000 years, and its oath of responsibility, Primum non nocere, is “First, do no harm.” At his recent lecture, Dr. Bernard Shapiro '52, who has served his community for 38 years as a family physician, advocated for the significance of primary care physicians. He said that an essential way of fostering the doctor-patient relationship is by being a rational thinker - one who truly understands the patient.  However, he believes changes to the American Health Care System may interfere with the doctor-partient relationship.

Under the new healthcare plan, U.S. citizens will be able to stay on their parent's health insurance policies until the age of 26. Faculty and students reflect on how the new bill will alter job searches.

B.L. drives a taxicab in New York City for a living. He is 54 years old, is married with two children and his customers often tell him he should go see a doctor for that hacking cough he’s had for the past couple of months.

If it were only that simple. B.L. doesn’t have health insurance.

Among large urban areas in the United States, New York City has one of the largest groups of uninsured residents, comprising a growing number of individuals whose health care needs are simply not being met. Recognizing this tremendous gap in the delivery of medical care, the Weill Cornell Community Clinic (WCCC) was established six years ago by a group of medical students concerned about the barriers to health care faced by uninsured individuals. WCCC is a student-led initiative that provides high quality, free health care for this vulnerable population for which a safety net does not exist.

As the topic of health care rattles up debate in the United States Senate, a small lecture led by Prof. William White and Prof. Kosali Simon, both policy analysis and management, stirred up the audience at Mann Library.

My circuitous path to Cornell included two-year stops at the U.S. Naval Academy and the Island of Borneo, where I served as a Mormon missionary. My cocktail hour inquisitors often focus their questions on the discipline and adventure of that period in my life. They want to explore the differences between Cornell and life in uniform — military or priestly. What was basic training like? How about the guns? Did you meet a headhunter? (In order: awful, awesome and I think so, but Borneo is the same as America in at least one way … you don’t just ask a guy if he’s a killer.)