Health care reform was one of the central issues in his campaign. Barack Obama has proposed major changes in the health care system designed to provide health coverage to those who lack health insurance.

Obama’s plan is based on the idea of extending private and public programs with the help of federal subsides and mandates. He has repeatedly promised to make health insurance affordable to as many Americans as possible by having the government subsidize the cost of coverage for low- and middle-income families.

Currently in the United States, 46 million people are uninsured. A report released by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that roughly a quarter of people living in Florida, Texas and New Mexico lacked health insurance. Texas had the highest percentage of uninsured residents under the age of 65, with 26.3 percent of the population lacking health coverage, followed by New Mexico with 24.2 percent, Florida with 24.0 percent, Nevada with 20.8 percent and Louisiana with 20.6 percent.

Other important steps in health care reform include: requiring large or medium companies to provide care plans for their employees or contribute to a fund for the uninsured; requiring that all children have health insurance; expanding Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); creating a national insurance program to support individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who don’t meet the criteria for the existing federal programs.

Obama’s agenda on health care includes providing access to affordable and effective health care and prescription drugs to every American, and investing in vital medical research.

One thing is for sure: to be able to do all these changes, Obama needs money. And to do that, he will need experience, courage and a bold plan of action to take this country on a new direction as America’s economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.