Why The United States Should Provide Universal Health Care

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

This paper will compare the healthcare service and healthcare status between Canada and the United States. Canada and the United States have a totally different healthcare system. Many people argued that the United States healthcare system needs some upgrading, while, some people admire Canada’s healthcare system due to the fact that Canada’s healthcare does more for less. Research has shown that Canada spends less of its’ GDP on it’s healthcare yet performs better than the United States.

The United States has a very unique healthcare system. Does this mean that we are simply leagues ahead of the rest of the world in healthcare? Unfortunately, not at all. The ideal of American exceptionalism is apt to describe our healthcare system. That is, our current system is exceptionally bad. Per capita, the United States spends “twice the average of other developed countries” on healthcare ("United States Per Capita Healthcare Spending Is More Than Twice The Average Of Other Developed Countries"). Yet, in the World Health Organization’s ranking of healthcare systems by nation, the U.S. comes in at a dismal 37th place, despite spending the most per person of any country on Earth on healthcare ("World Health Organization’s Ranking of the World’s Health Systems").

When asked to describe what makes Canada unique compared to other countries, many outsiders might yell out “Hockey!” “Cold Weather!” or “Free Health Care!.” Health care is definitely one of Canada’s most noticeable trademarks when compared to the United States, but the reality is that our health care services are not what they are made out to be. Canadians tend to take pride in the fact that they have a Government funded health care system, but the system is failing at a rapid pace. One can gage the quality of health care in our country while at the emergency ward in any hospital, where most Canadians realize its downsides. The Government spends most of its budget towards health care but Canadians are not feeling an improvement. Waiting

The subject matter of universal health care is important because the current system of health care in America is economically and morally wrong. The United States spends more than double on health care and still millions are left without coverage. During the Progressive Era, AALL (American Association of Labor Legislation) proposed a bill which provided coverage to those making less than $1200 and would be provided services such as physicians, hospitals, and nurse which would be shared between workers, employers, and the state. This system was opposed by the AFL (American Federation of Labor) because it felt this movement would weaken unions. Furthermore, Bill Clinton proposed a system of universal health care which would provide health coverage

Canada 's healthcare system is praised globally for its universal and free healthcare. It started to take shape after World War II in 1945. Health insurance was introduced and was attempted, but was not successful even though there was an increase in the spending of health related services and goods. Fast forward a few years to 1961 where Tommy Douglas, the premier of Saskatchewan, developed the idea for an all-inclusive insurance plan. He later inspired the Medical Care Act in Canada in 1967, when he pointed out health care is a right for all Canadians. From this one thought, Canada has become of the many countries with a universal health care system. Ever since Tommy Douglas sparked the idea for health care coverage, Canada is praised for the way it carries out its system because of several key features. This system is publically funded, is universal and is accessible to everyone across the nation. Because this is a public system, funding comes from the tax payers and some federal funding, so there is no extra cost for the patients. Also, being a universal system it has offered care to all Canadians, immigrants and visitors. Unlike the U.S who does not provide healthcare to its entire population because it is a private system; access depends on how much someone could afford, and how

           In a country where healthcare is a decision, many debate if our country should keep our health care system privatized. Health care is an essential need in society because individual health can change at any time without warning at any time. While there are both pros and cons of this system, the pros outway the cons. I believe that our nation should ensure basic health care to all legal citizens, no matter the class. Many Americans fall into circumstances where they are not able to pay the expensive bills that privatized insurance companies billhave so they do not have chose to not have insurance at all. Universal health care gives those people the means of financial support when they medically need

Universal Healthcare will increase accessibility, by eliminating the ability of major insurance companies to discriminate, based on pre-existing conditions and other exclusions to care. A key debated issue with Universal Healthcare is whether healthcare is a basic right under life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, or a privilege. Universal Healthcare is built on the idea of healthcare being a basic human right. As a basic right, all citizens regardless of pre-existing conditions or disabilities would have the right to necessary healthcare. According to Jerry Levinson,

"Universal healthcare refers to a healthcare system that provides benefits to all persons in a particular country." (Definition of "Universal Healthcare Coverage", Investopedia.com). This form of healthcare is used among the richest countries, Ex. Canada and France. Other rich countries that use the Universal Healthcare system spend far less than the United States does. Although the U.S spends more on healthcare, “The U.S ranks 28th below almost all other rich countries, when it comes to the quality of its healthcare assessed by UN parameters (pdf, p.13)"(Annalisa Merreli, A history of why the US is the only rich country without universal healthcare, qz.com). These statistics call for a change. The United States should adopt universal healthcare because it would benefit business, provide equal access to healthcare, and is a human right.

     In the past, Canada’s government-funded, universally accessible, health care system has been praised and admired both at home and abroad as one of the finest in the world. A great source of pride and comfort for many Canadians is that it is based on five fundamental principles. Principles that are a reflection of the values held by Canadian citizens since the formation of Medicare in 1966. These principles were reinforced in the Canada Health Act, (CHA), of 1984 and state that the Canadian system is universal, accessible, portable, comprehensive and non-profit.

These flaws affect everyone that is a resident in Canada, and so this should be very important to the people of Canada. Every Canadian has right to have the health care coverage for what they pay for, each Canadian pays 13% HST Tax on everything they buy, without mentioning the people that run businesses and pay a huge amount of their revenue as tax that goes up to 40% of the revenue. These issues should not be seen as bad things, but they should be seen as guidelines for the government to improve on and take on European countries in the healthcare perspective. Even though Canada has a really good healthcare system, most of Europe has better health care systems and they are ahead by quit a lot in terms of improvement

A. The United States is one of the world 's only developed nations that does not guarantee universal health coverage for all of its citizens.

How can these nations afford healthcare for their people and maintain quality healthcare? Each country has a slightly different delivery model, but with the same results, healthcare guaranteed for every citizen.

Given the fact that the United states of America and Canada are linked together sharing a border which is open basically to and from both sides, their health care systems are highly different from each other and how the services are financed, organized and given to the citizens.

Health care is often seen as an important topic in political terms, more specifically people are concerned about public vs. private health care. Public health care is often associated with welfare state liberalism, this is because public health care is generally provided through the government and national healthcare systems. The welfare state system is one that focuses on the physical and economic well-being of it’s citizens. In contrast to this, the private health care system is associated with neo-conservatism. This is because neo-conservatism has principles which include wanting to keep their funds within the country and not altered by outside influences, as well, they tend to distrust international organizations such as the United Nations. Throughout the paper there will be evidence and examples to explain each system and how they are related to either the welfare state or neo-conservatism. The citizens of each country, these being Canada and the United States, both have their own ideas of which system would be favourable.