The Pros And Cons Of Universal Health Care

Furthermore, as seen through the historic example of Britain, the demand for health-care treatments increase ten-fold after switching to universal health care. When health care is covered by the government, why buy over the counter cold medicine when you could go to the doctor for free? This turn creates longer wait lists and less time per patient with the doctor which then leads to less prevention methods. According to Dr. Michel Colman’s study on cancer survival rates in 2008, the United States has the highest prostate and breast cancer survival rates in the world due to the availability of screenings that countries with universal health-care are just not able to give. (Colman) Who is to say that the same would not happen to the United States if we switched over to universal health care?

In most countries with universal health care, the provided coverage is not free as it may seem- it is paid for through higher taxes. An article from Forbes magazine by Canadian analyst Barua & Clemens in 2014 reported that in European countries such as the United Kingdom, the payroll taxes average 37%; this is more than double the average 15.3% payroll taxes paid by the US citizens. (Barua & Clemens) In many cases individuals pay into a system which they may never need to take advantage of, while others may contribute less but may reap more benefits. The article Jarret B. Wollstein reported in the article “National Health Insurance: A Medical Disaster”, that if the United States were to adopt a Canadian-style national health system the initial cost would be over $339 billion, and would likely require almost doubled payroll taxes or new taxes to be implemented.