The Pros And Cons Of Universal Healthcare

1332 Words6 Pages
The United States is among the wealthiest and most prosperous nations in the world. It has the largest military, the largest economy, freedom of speech and religion. Yet its government is unable, unwilling, or incapable of providing adequate, basic healthcare to all its citizens. In 2010, the United States spent over $2.6 trillion on health care, representing roughly 18 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) (Hughes & Rao, 2012). On average, the United States spend twice as much on healthcare per capita and out spend 12 other industrial countries including Germany, Japan and New Zealand (Hughes & Rao, 2012). Yet, U.S. healthcare spending is not translating to better health outcomes for its recipients. Clearly, something has to be done,…show more content…
On several occasions, advocates believed they were on the verge of success; yet each time they faced defeat. First major attempt to fix the failing healthcare system was proposed by Clinton administration in 1994. The proposed plan was an enforced mandate for employer-provided health insurance through competitive but closely regulated HMOs (Aaron, 1996, p. 87). The idea of Universal Healthcare was aggressively opposed by conservatives, libertarians, and the health insurance industry. Opposing parties argued that it was overly bureaucratic and restrictive of patient choice. Conservative groups attacked the proposed bill as a socialist movement. Many of these opposing parties spent millions of dollars to vilify Universal healthcare. Creating a fear of increasing government control deterred many Americans from the idea of Universal…show more content…
They are the people who work in the service industry, attending to our daily needs, driving our kids to school, hauling our trash, fixing our cars and mingling on a daily basis with the rest of the society. These blue collar workers are an important and necessary part of any society. It only hurts the workforce and the economy by not providing affordable health care coverage for them. The middle class is not without its share of problems either. If one spouse should lose his or her job or a major medical situation arises that requires one spouse to remain at home, the entire family could face a financial crisis. Under the current insurance system, the number of treatment sessions covered by the insurance could be less than the required amount to regain health. This would increase the number of days missed from work due to illness along with the economic hardship out of pocket expenses brings to the family. In some cases, individuals are dropped by their insurance company
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