The United States in one of the richest, most populous and most powerful countries in the world and plays a central leadership role in the world. On the world stage, the U.S. often challenges other countries about their records regarding human rights. Yet the United States is failing its own citizens by not granting every citizen access to basic health care. Many citizens in the United States needlessly suffer and die each day due to the inequities of the health care system in the U.S. This is a horrible national catastrophe! The United States needs to provide universal health care to all of its citizens and legal residents. While the issue is very complex and touches many people and institutions, it is a problem that can and must be …show more content…
A universal health care system would benefit the United States by positively impacting all of these statistics and eventually bringing the U.S. into better health compared to the rest of the world (United Health Foundation). There are many people in the United States who are not covered by health insurance. In 2002, 31.4% of the people ages 18 to 24 were uninsured and 11.2% of the people who were under 18 were uninsured. Also in 2002, 44.2% of the families living in poverty had children who did not have health insurance. When families are in poverty without health insurance, they end up being charged the full amount for medical care. They are further stuck in poverty, having to pay for the hospital bills, any prescription drugs, and any follow up appointments. This is a vicious cycle that inadvertently keeps people without health insurance in poverty. When people are sick and cannot afford to visit the hospital, they then could miss work, get fired, or not be able to search for a job. Universal health care would eliminate this destructive cycle by providing basic health care for all without regard to income level (Public Agenda). Another chief concern about the current health care system is that the Medicare and Medicaid programs will run out of money. The Medicaid program is a government health insurance program for poor and disabled; there are strict income and financial resource guidelines for a person to qualify for Medicaid support and
This project will explore the current state or our healthcare and where it is predicted to cost us in the future. We will also examine the overall health programs and how the uninsured will affect the system entirely. Universal healthcare would alleviate the financial burden on some of the population and provide access to almost all of the country's population; however, this system will cost more. Funding the program will be discussed as well as the taxes and other funding that will help pay for the coverage. Likewise, how
Why the U.S. Should Not Have Universal Healthcare In a perfect world, everybody would have the means to access medical care; some would even say that it is a basic human right, but universal healthcare would never work in the United States. Many lives are lost due to the fact that the United States doesn’t have free healthcare, but healthcare is a privilege that one must work for; not a right. The United States was founded upon the belief that the government should not play a significant role in citizens’ lives and having universal healthcare would not only clash with that belief, but it would create longer wait times and lesser quality of medical care, increase the national debt, and create a shortage of medical practitioners; therefore, the United States should not have universal healthcare.
“That the U.S. health care system is broken and needs to be fixed is widely agreed to be true” (Universal Health Care Opposing Views p 19) is immediately apparent following a brief research of the organization of health care in the nation. There is an inability to control rising health care costs, and the system, although considered the most technologically advanced in the world, is riddled with waste and inefficiency. Year on year, doctors are spending increasingly more time dealing with insurance related administrative work rather than healing patients, there is gross overuse of care because employees view healthcare as part of a work-related benefit package, access to health care is based on ability to pay, and there is constant anxiety caused by the fear of losing employer-sponsored coverage. In contrast, a system of universal healthcare offers free services that are accessible to all, releases doctors from insurance paperwork to focus on healing, removes overuse of care because citizens fund the services through the payment of taxes, and may lead to healthier populations, among other things. Therefore, although vastly different from the current system, one could consider whether the introduction of universal healthcare would be beneficial for the USA?
The United States is known as one of the greatest world powers: however it is held back by its weak healthcare system. As of 2010 the US healthcare system currently ranks the 37th best out of 190 countries. Before the introduction of the Affordable Care Ac in 2010, the united States had an individual insurance market. It was the responsibility of the individual or their employer, to take care of their healthcare costs. On top of this millions of people could be denied insurance by different agencies due to pre-existing claims. Healthcare was expensive, but the costs were nothing compared to the medical bills owed by an uninsured person. Universal healthcare is a basic right not a privilege. Everyone should be given the opportunity to have health insurance no matter his or her income. Isn’t this the principle of freedom and basic right what America was based on? On half of all bankruptcies in the United States are due to an inability to pay medical bills. These problems all pose a question and the answer Is Universal Healthcare. The federal government has the interest of all American citizens on its mind and universal healthcare is a perfect way of highlighting that fact. The Affordable Care act provides low cost healthcare to the previously uninsured and guarantees continued healthcare in the case of job loss. Many people are still opposed to this act. This new system of universal healthcare will lead to improvements within the lives of American Citizens. There are many
Should the United States have Universal healthcare? Healthcare is a huge part of everyone's daily lives, from receiving check-ups, to acquiring care for medical emergencies such as cancer, or other things we can not control. Sadly, these services all cost an absorbent amount of money and a lot of insurance plans may not cover all services. Many people die from not receiving the proper medical care they need. High out of pocket expenses can force people into medical bankruptcies. These problems would not occur if the United States would have Universal Healthcare. Having Universal Healthcare will result in many benefits. Everyone would have access to the care they need, the government would pay for the services, and the services would still
A nation that does not provide the opportunity, for the flourishing of health among its citizens, is inherently flawed. A country like the U.S is no exception to this assertion. The United States government should implement a single payer universal health care system. The Modern U.S health care is allowing its citizens to rack up vast amounts of medical debt, in addition, large amounts of its population to remain uninsured. The U.S lags behind an idea, which, many other countries have accepted and that is health care is a human right. A plethora of positive reasons stand behind the notion of a single payer universal health care system, like the ones in other countries. However, the system in place now, has many systemic problems that are hurting citizens, particularly the lower and middle class.
Money plays a huge role in access, therefore it is a vital issue to discuss. Within the current system, lack of money results in lack of health care, which leaves thousands of people without any health care coverage. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of people paying for health insurance increased 30%, however income only raised 3% (Health Care Problems). Adequate income is a necessity and unfortunately that is not present. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the average annual premium across the country is $16,000. Currently, the average annual income in the United States is $51,107. Mint Money Management suggests that about 4-6% of one’s total income should be spent on insurance, including life, disability, and health insurance. However, the averages in the United States show that the average person spends about 31% of their income on health insurance, which is not financially beneficial. When this rise in health insurance is not parallel to the inflation of income, innocent people are left without a method to achieve health care. There is a program for those who can’t afford health insurance out of pocket nor have access to it, and that is called Medicaid. Issues still exist with the program. There is only so much funding, which leaves many still uninsured. Additionally, people with Medicaid have difficulty
Today it is a common debate amongst Americans on Universal Health care. Universal Health care is also referred to as Universal Health care Coverage, or, Universal Health care Insurance. Universal Health care Insurance is a system which provides health care and financial protection to all citizens of a particular country. It is believed that Universal Health care Insurance will hurt the American economy. Universal Health care Insurance will be good for the American economy because there will be a one payer source system, we can get rid of insurance claims submission, high deductibles, claim approval, denials, and providers will be able to make a more concrete diagnosis. Having a one payer
Universal healthcare is a very controversial subject in the US. One argument is that universal health care systems would bring costs down and increase our access to care no matter financial status. Others however, argue that universal healthcare would be too expensive and would reduce the quality of care you were receiving. However, this is not true because if everyone had access to the same care there wouldn't be a need for competition in the market. There would be no one to beat or be better against because everyone would be receiving the same attention no matter where they were seen.
One prevalent argument is that if free universal healthcare is supplied, it will eliminate the competition and innovation in the healthcare field. Formosa Post, an author for Universal Health care clearly states, “Universal health care eliminates the free market for health care where prices may be lower. There is no incentive to create better medications or pursue better medical services. The universal health care will reduce the amount of money doctors can make thereby reducing the attraction in the practice. This could create shortage of doctors in the long-run.” This honestly is a valid worry but this worry doesn’t outweigh the benefits of free universal healthcare. Also, even though there is free universal healthcare doesn’t necessary mean that there would be no innovation. Healthcare centers will still be competing for your favor. Because you will still be able to choose your own
America is without a question the leading country of medical and scientific advances. There always seem to be a new medical breakthrough every time you watch the news or read the paper, especially in the cure of certain diseases. However, the medical research requires an enormous amount of money. The U.S. spends the most money on health care yet many people, mainly the working class Americans are still without any type of health insurance and thus are more susceptible to health risks and problems. The concept of health insurance for Americans was formulated over a century ago. Most Americans obtain health insurance from
Also, everyone would be equal, no one would have better health care. This would help people and it would pretty much be a peacemaker. But since everyone has health care, people would go to the doctor for reasons that aren?t as important as others. This would also mean the wait for check-ups, surgeries, and visits at the hospital would be extremely long. ?Health tourists? fly to countries such as India, Turkey, Hungary, Germany, Malaysia, Poland and Spain to have surgeries performed without a wait. Doctors estimate that by the end of the decade, patients in Britain would be flying to places as far as South Africa and South America to have surgeries performed. People seem to be willing to pay extra money to be cured. Many patients in America say they would have died waiting to have their surgery. People like Donald Hilgendorf tell those wishing for universal health care to be careful. His doctor told him he should have a very serious and life-threatening surgery. He thought about what he should do and decided to get a second opinion and asked another clinic. They said he shouldn't do the surgery. He later found out that someone went ahead with the surgery and they died within months. So if there was universal health care in the country, no one would be able to get a second opinion. And thanks to a second opinion, a man lived.
The United States is known as one of the greatest world powers: however it is held back by its weak healthcare system. As of 2010 the US healthcare system currently ranks the 37th best out of 190 countries (Murray). Before the introduction of the Affordable Care Ac in 2010, the United States had an individual insurance market. It was the responsibility of the individual or their employer to take care of their healthcare costs. On top of this, millions of people could be denied insurance by different agencies due to pre-existing claims. Healthcare was expensive, but the costs were nothing compared to the medical bills owed by an uninsured person. Universal healthcare is a basic right not a privilege. Everyone should be given the
According to the United States census Bureau 47.9 million persons in the US which is approximately 15.4% of the entire US population, in 2012 lacked health insurance. Mexico and the US are the only nations of the thirty-four member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that do not provide their citizens with universal health care. On the other hand, health care right should be provided to any person in the developed world and no one should be excluded from it. Universal health care would enhance public health, put an end to medical bankruptcies, minimize overall spending in healthcare, assist small businesses as well as the fact that health care must be a crucial service offered by the government (Mangan, 2014).
Conclusion: Therefore, implementing a universal health care system in our society would greatly benefit everyone.