Why doesn’t the USA have a universal healthcare system? Despite being one of the biggest world economies, the USA doesn’t guarantee its citizens a tax-funded, widely accessible healthcare system. The US spends amounts orders of magnitude higher than any other country in the world but still ranks 22 out of 35 industrialized OCED countries in their citizens' life expectancy. The main reason for that is a dysfunctional healthcare system comprising different insurance companies, independent providers, and healthcare system providers. Of course, several policies try to help people that find themselves in unfortunate situations. Government-funded programs like Medicaid provide health coverage for anyone living in poverty, and Medicare guarantees …show more content…
The main reason for them to be so opposed is that this system would cut their profit margins, by providing a viable alternative. The most prominent way in which these companies influence the public is by funding political and advertising campaigns, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics, the insurance industry contributed over $71 million to political campaigns only during the 2020 election cycle. These companies have also employed lobbyists to directly influence Congress, in 2020 an estimated amount ranging from 150 to 200 million has been spent only on this one cause. They leverage insane amounts of money to directly influence the lawmaker’s decisions on any issues regarding insurance markets, Medicare and Medicaid reform, and the creation of a public option for healthcare. The best example of that could be the introduction of the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare. The ACA aimed to expand access to healthcare to millions of Americans and implement several reforms to the healthcare system, such as prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. However, insurance companies opposed many aspects of the ACA. More than 1.1 billion dollars were spent by various industries to influence the form of one of the biggest bills in American history. Industry giants argued that offering a …show more content…
As different political sides have varying viewpoints on the topic of universal healthcare. While Democrat voters tend to lean in favor of the government providing some medical coverage, not even this side fully supports the introduction of universal healthcare. 40% of Democrats and Democratic leaners now favor a single national government program to provide health insurance, while Conservative voters seem to not be very fond of this idea. Only 18% are for a single national government-funded program. American voters seem to be happy with the already existing free system, but as I showcased, most of the population isn’t really in favor of the introduction of top-down health