Effectiveness of Proposal

The essay I chose was the one written by Mark Bonicillo. It was a proposal for universal health insurance in America.

Bonicillo establishes credibility and adequately supports his thesis that America needs to change its employer-based insurance system. He effectively appeals to the reader’s pathos by relating a story about a college graduate who works as a waiter because the economy is bad. This graduate has hurt his back and has no insurance as the employer does not provide it and it would be too expensive for the person to buy. This example points out the desperate need for providing a way to obtain insurance. Boncillo further emphasizes this need by using statistical facts to show what percentage of people in certain age groups do not have insurance and that there are 39 million Americans without health insurance. He also uses pie charts, research studies, and a personal interview to support his case. All of these techniques educate the reader about some of the problems of America’s employer-based insurance. Bonicillo’s proposal shows that poor people and people who work minimum wage jobs will most likely not have health care because it is not included in their jobs and it is too expensive for the employee to buy. I think Boncillo is very effective in telling and showing the audience that there is a problem with the health care in America.

However, I do not think the solutions Bonicillo presents are very effective and they do not seem feasible. His proposals seem too general and would most likely raise taxes. His plan would hurt the insurance companies, and he needed more facts as to how the government and employees would be able to afford the premiums. He should have done a cost-benefit analysis to make the readers accept his plan. Bonicillo had me convinced that there was a problem with employer-based health care, but once he started explaining his solutions, he lost me. (Bonicillo even said that there are problems with his proposal.) His piece was no longer effective because the solutions he presented would not work. His solutions would upset the middle class and upper class because they would have to pay higher taxes. In addition, insurance companies would not want to pay out more. Therefore, Bonicillo’s proposals would not pass since the middle and upper classes, who have more power in the economy, would not accept these changes.