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The Pros And Cons Of Universal Health Care

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Many people are concerned about the problems that could arise with the implementation of a universal health care program. Some people believe that such a program could greatly benefit the US, while others feel that the cons significantly outweigh any kind of pro that could come with such a program. In order to benefit everyone, we must understand the complexity of the universal health care issue, including the history and overtime changes, in order to thoughtfully implement the best solution: to slowly implement it while ironing out any wrinkles that may arise. Some people believe that taxes would rise, and medical innovation would slow down tremendously, while others feel such downsides are nothing compared to the benefits it provides. Reasons …show more content…

But other disparities remain, and some have worsened, especially for the poor and uninsured population in many categories. This shows that the level of treatment for those that are uninsured has taken a turn for the worse. However, the numbers of uninsured people has been on a slow decline since 2019. Going from 10.9% in 2019 to 10.2% in 2021 to 9.6% in 2022, hitting an all-time low of 7.7% in early 2023. Looking at the changes that have occurred throughout the lifetime of the healthcare system helps everyone understand the changes that should be made to transition into universal health care. For example, “about 74 percent is covered by private health insurance”. This means that, ever since the 1980s, the majority of people have used privately owned health care plans usually offered by the workspace. Also, “For all its success, France has its problems, most notably cost control, including difficulty affording new technology, expensive pharmaceuticals, and treatment of an aging population”. This shows that even countries that have universal health care still have their own problems that the US healthcare system …show more content…

For example, would be the medical for all act(M4A). This a bill introduced in the House of Representatives by John Conyers in 2003 with 38 co-sponsors.M4A would establish a single payer universal health care system similar to that of Canada's Medicare. In fact, with the newest version of the bill proposed by Pramila Jayapal in 2019, the majority of the funding would come from taxes replacing insurance premiums, the end of insurance company overhead, and hospital billing costs as seen in“ The national system would be paid for in part through taxes replacing insurance premiums, but also by savings realized through the provision of preventive universal health care and the elimination of insurance company overhead and hospital billing costs''. This means that they are actively looking for alternative ways to fund the bill without increasing the people's taxes by a larger margin than what we have today. Also, the US wastes billions of dollars on unnecessary administrative costs, all health care profits instead of the care of the patients as seen by “The healthcare industry is worth $808 billion in the United States as of

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The current debate concerning the implementation of universal healthcare in America is hard to understand because it is comprised most of practical arguments of concern for the motives behind the project. Before one asks how much it will cost, how it will be organized, or whether “the uninsured” will benefit, they should ask whether implementing universal healthcare is best for keeping with the values and principles of the American way. In other words, is universal healthcare good for America? Universal healthcare is not good for America.

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Americans also spend about 36% more on drugs than the next highest paying countries (Japan and Canada) even though our life expectancy is nowhere near the longest. The number one spot belonging to Japan, and the U.S. coming in at 31. The amount we spend on private healthcare could easily be decreased, and routed towards public healthcare virtually reducing our extra costs to

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For many years, universal health care has been one of the most debated topics in the U.S., and several people disagree with bringing it about. Of course, we could go on and on about how and why we shouldn’t have a universal health care system, rather than why the U.S. should institute universal health care and why it would be beneficial. But what exactly is a universal health care system? It is defined as “Universal health coverage is defined as ensuring that all people have access to needed promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these services.” by the World Health Organization, WHO.

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The real debate is how can we accomplish the goal of universal healthcare in the most affordable and sustainable way. The United States is evaluated as a wealthy country, yet there are more penurious countries who provide health maintenance, paid through higher taxes. “In the United Kingdom and other European countries, payroll taxes average 37% - much higher than the 15.3% payroll taxes paid by the average US worker” (Gregory). With this data, the only reform would be to end the private health insurance companies of dominant health services, and incorporate a single payer system. Conversely, it is factual that taxes will rise, but the implementation of universal healthcare will better the health of American citizens.

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