Should America Have Universal Health Care Since The 20th Century

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

The government would be the sole determiner of the number of medical professionals that could work.”( Creech, Mark H. “Universal Health Care Is Unbiblical. ) Is access to health care a human right, or a valued social good, or neither? In 2003 the Institute of Medicine published a report, Insuring America's Health, which contained five principles for evaluating various strategies for health care reform. The first principle, "the most basic and important," was that health care coverage should be universal. The idea that access to health care should be universal, however, has become one of the most hotly debated issues in the ongoing discussion of how to reform the U.S. healthcare system. In Opposing Viewpoints: Universal Health Care, authors explores the

The question of Universal Healthcare in the United States has valid and non valid arguments with supporters on both sides of the issue. Millions of Americans do not have affordable health care insurance. The main question is who is responsible to provide this? Is it feasible for government to pay for the lack of health care by taxpayer’s dollars? Should you be responsible for yourselves or should you be compensated by the government?       Unemployment is at record high making health insurance less attainable or affordable than ever. In most cases, additional restrictions or

As the world’s richest and most powerful nation, the United States sets itself apart from other countries on a range of issues. Some of these issues are worth celebrating, while others highlight how this country continues to lag other developed countries. No issue demonstrates this divide more clearly than our lack of universal healthcare. Touted as the best system in the world by supporters, when compared with other rich nations, we continue to spend more but have lower outcomes. The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, attempted to address many of the problems with the current system; however it does not go far enough. To further improve outcomes and lower costs we must establish a universal single-payer system.

The author states that if America is able to find the political will to provide universal healthcare coverage, the rest of the world can then show the way. This says to me that the United States must look within itself and make the moral determination as to whether healthcare should be considered a fundamental right granted to all its citizens as a theme of this book. Once addressed, the United States can join the other industrialized countries that have long since implemented universal healthcare systems such as: Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Canada; who have more cost effective systems which produce better health outcomes than the US.1

Universal health care coverage represents a fundamental shift in health care policy in the United States and does not have widespread support among Republican members of Congress. Moreover, unlike President Obama’s health care reform element of reducing health care costs, universal health care coverage will require large increases in spending from the federal government, likely necessitating higher taxes. President Obama’s proposal to provide coverage for the 47 million Americans who were uninsured as of January 2008 is estimated to cost $102 billion per year. Gruber, J. (2008). Covering the Uninsured in the U.S. Retrieved June, 2010 from http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/2517.  As the number of uninsured Americans continues to increase, so does the cost of providing universal coverage.

When one hears the term healthcare it can evoke personal experiences in one’s mind, good and bad. When it comes to obtaining health insurance the system is complex, difficult to navigate and there is no guarantee of approval due to pre-existing conditions or not meeting some specific criteria. To simplify the health care process, there are two basic categories: privately owned insurance companies (i.e Humana, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc) and government-funded insurance (i.e Medicaid, Medicare). Most working Americans get health insurance through their employers or organization called group insurance. However, some employers and organizations do not offer group insurance so an alternative would be to directly purchase their own individual health insurance. A universal health care system would give everyone the same access to the same quality of care. America has some of the best researchers, doctors, and treatment options in the world yet, we spend more money on medical care than any other country, “45 million” (Rashford, 2007) Americans still live without health insurance every day. “Medical problems contribute to 54.5 percent of personal bankruptcies and threaten the solvency of solidly middle-class Americans” (Dranove & Millenson, 2006). In essence, the U.S health care system has become more focused on profit versus patient care. “The five largest

America as a whole is facing a major crisis. This ordeal would be due to a healthcare crisis. This is a very big issue that we the people are faced with. It seems small on a large scale, but economically it is massive. Many established or up and coming countries have the privilege of universal health care coverage. The greatest county to ever govern this world, a view by many nations, cannot seem to execute a plan that will set this action in motion. With rising health care coverage, not even the attempt by the Obama administration with use of “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”, could seem to execute concisely. Through this topic together we are going to explore rising health care cost, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as the failure of to produce universal health care coverage.

A majority of concerned individuals have often perceived the United States to be at the verge of national health reform. Over the past few years, the cost of healthcare has been on the rise because over forty-six million Americans are still uninsured. On the other hand, millions more experience under-insurance while other worry that they are not appropriately insured. The quality of healthcare in this country has been under scrutiny because the United States is viewed as one of the most developed countries in the world. Major problems surrounding the state of health came into the limelight in 2008 during the presidential campaigns. The costs of healthcare were among the major issues presented in many debates. It is undeniable to state that the United States has been on the brink of many national health reforms as early as the 19th

Virtually 50 million Americans are presently without any health insurance, and a great number of them with health insurance are struggling to pay for their medical bills. Everybody concurs that healthcare must be accessible to all citizens, but the debate on whether the United States should adopt a universal health system still rages. According to the Institute of Medicine (2002), the U.S. is the only developed country that does not guarantee that its citizens have health care coverage. President Obama pledged to reform the country’s healthcare system by increasing health coverage and

Health care cost have continued to increase by many accounts at an even faster rate than ever. Premiums are expected to rise by more than 10% in most states next year. There are many reasons for this. Health insurance companies need healthy young people to buy insurance to fund sicker, older ones. Also the growing number of uninsured and underinsured is putting an extreme strain on the health care system as costs continue to rise. The uninsured and underinsured sustain “economic costs from their lack of coverage, including disability and lost work for additional aggregate costs of $65 to $130 billion”, also the annual cost for all of those uninsured at least part of the year was $100 billion. During 2001, 2.2 million Americans lost their insurance… Because it so expensive to self-insure when unemployed, many unemployed individuals cannot find an affordable way to obtain health coverage and remain uninsured. Therefore, having a universal health care system would do both provide access care to all, but at the same time raise the cost and reduce the quality of care.

Several individuals who need medical assistance have to do without it. The unreasonable prices on healthcare insurance has caused many to suffer because, they cannot afford it. The typical insured family pays directly and indirectly, more than one sixth of its income for healthcare. (www.brookings.edu) The goal of universal health coverage is to ensure that everyone can use health facilities. (National Health Insurance: What Now, What Later, What Never?) The health policy researchers have researched reasons for cost efficient health programs. The government has looked over reasons to change the health insurance prices, but they are still undecided on lowering the cost. People throughout the world still struggle with copays and being able to pay

The United States healthcare system has failed Americans because the government has treated it as though only the wealthy should be taken care of. Universal Healthcare has benefited industrialized countries like Sweden, France, and Canada because they recognize the fact that healthcare should be a human right, and not a privilege. The debate continues over whether the reform will benefit the people and not put the government into greater debt while politicians are raising the constitutional flag on the reform, stating it is not constitutional to make it law that all Americans have health insurance. The issue of healthcare and what method is right for America is an important question and one that cannot be answered hastily.

“Should America adopt a universal healthcare system?” is a question that seems to be easy to answer. In reality, it is a dilemma for a first-world, democratic country like America. Universal healthcare recently becomes a heated issue as Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, was passed through Congress. Many people, who were uninsured previously, are now able to purchase insurance at an inexpensive cost. They are relieved. After many years of being denied to healthcare, some people finally gain access to the right care, the right treatment. However, the United States should not adopt a universal healthcare system, for there is a multitude of underlying problems associated with universal health care, outweighing its benefits.

For some time now, Americans have been wanting to switch to a universal healthcare system. A healthcare system where all Americans will have access to the proper healthcare that is affordable and fits their needs. Some solutions that can be implemented are replacing for-profit insurance companies, reforming the healthcare system, and hiring insurance companies that have slow cost growths. These are good solutions because there are a large number of Americans who do not have health insurance and desperately need it. However, we should not put a national health care system into effect because our current healthcare system is in a corrupt state and has to be addressed before we can move forward.