What Is the Current State of US Healthcare?
Unlike most other developed countries, the United States does not provide universal health care free to its citizens.
While a lot of medical care is paid for by the federal government, many people still do not have health coverage.
While Obamacare did reduce the number of Americans without health insurance coverage from 40 million to less than 30 million, Obamacare is not universal healthcare.
Does the lack of universal health coverage have serious consequences and what does the United States have to gain by not providing universal health care?
Many Americans Won’t Vote for Universal Health Care
Many Americans dislike socialist policies and prefer paying lower taxes even if it means reduced government spending. This means that in general it is not an attractive proposal for a political party to put forward as it doesn’t gain them support.
While a president can sometimes win an election by promising socialist policies, they might also lose an election this way. This can be seen by the lack of political support for someone like Bernie Sanders.
The Democratic Party has never passed a universal health care bill while in power. Introducing a public health care system would be a dangerous political move that could threaten their sphere of power.
Why Did Universal Health Care Start in Europe but Not America?
Many European countries adopted universal health care after the Second World War. The war led to tens of millions of deaths and millions more people losing their homes and livelihoods, which meant great support for universal health care.
While many Americans (400,000) died in the war, no American cities were destroyed, and the death count was comparatively low.
Get Smarter on US News, History, and the Constitution
Amazingly, the United States was twice as rich after the war as it had been before it and it seemed fair to expect everyone to pay for their own family’s health care or find a job that paid for it. At the time, universal health care seemed unnecessary because good jobs were relatively easy to get.
American Health Care Is Already Expensive
The United States spends more money on health care in America than most other countries. In 2022, the government spent $12,318 on healthcare in America per person. This amount is the highest spending on healthcare per person in the world.
While the United States does not offer medical care, there is a lot of federal government health care spending. It is hard to argue that spending should be even higher to cover all US citizens.
What Are the Consequences of Not Having Universal Health Care in America?
Many people end up bankrupt after a trip to the hospital in the United States. Without health insurance coverage, Americans have to pay the total medical care cost of whatever medical treatment they receive.
Why healthcare should be free
It’s not unusual for patients to be financially devastated by their medical bills in America. This differs from other developed countries, where the government covers most or all medical expenses.
The financial devastation that is caused due to medical reasons could be enough reason in itself why healthcare should be free.
How Can American Health Care Be Reformed?
American health care is inefficient, with much money being spent on a complex bureaucracy. Far too much of the total cost is spent on administration.
The costs of many procedures are also far higher in the United States than in many other countries.
The United States would be better off if it created a health care system similar to France or another country where universal health coverage works properly.
Will US Healthcare Ever Be Free?
Most countries that offer universal health care do not have nearly as many problems with their health care coverage as the US does.
However, numerous interests make massive money from the flawed American healthcare system, which makes it difficult to reform.
A strong, determined government would have to pass a large healthcare reform bill and would likely lose the next election due to how many people would oppose it.
Further resources about Universal Healthcare:
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3863696/
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides authoritative medical and policy research. This article explores the historical and political reasons why the US lacks universal healthcare, supporting the ‘Why Did Universal Health Care Start in Europe but Not America?’ section. - https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57088
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a nonpartisan federal agency. This report analyzes the financial and administrative challenges of healthcare reform, which is relevant for the ‘How Can American Health Care Be Reformed?’ section.
4 Responses
Our country has by far the Worst Health Care for its Citizens.
A young Jewish lady stayed at my house two months ago. She flew over from Paris, France, to attend a “Jewish Chuppah Wedding” of her cousin.
I asked her a few questions–
About Health Care–Single Payer Excellent
Education —ALL FREE
Rents Cannot be raised by more than 3%.
Yana told me she has lived in her apartment 6 years in Paris, and her Rent has NOT been raised in the six years she has lived in Paris, France
I told her, we Americans call this Socialism
WRONG WRONG WRONG
——————————————-
ALL is Paid for from the TAXES these people PAY.
We Americans Pay a lot of Taxes.
And what do we get for our TAXES–NEVER ENDING WARS
I am a Capitalist, but now we are in a Complete Capitalistic Society—With NO SAFETY NET for the Middle Class.
On top, ALL Politicians in Washington are ONLY working for the Lobbyists.
Our Government just hands over/gives Billions, even Trillions of our Tax Dollars to Foreign Countries.
Yet, for our homeless, we let them die on the Streets.
I am a direct descendant of the French Huguenots. One of my Ancestors by the name of Welton Croissant.
He settled in Hollowayville, IL
Welton Croissant became a very Wealthy man, and he also was a very Frugal man.
But he shared his Wealth with his Community.
With his own money, he had a College Built.
With his own money, he had a Church Built.
He also helped Citizens in Need.
In the Middle of the “Hollowayville, Il Cemetery Stands a Huge Monument, Honoring my Ancestor Welton Croissant.
I would be more than willing to pay higher taxes for free healthcare. Get the people off of the streets. My biggest issue is greed. All of the celebrities and millionaires who don’t do anything for anyone but themselves. Believe me if I had the kardshsian money-I would have opened a dozen shelters and given free healthcare.
Insurance and Pharma Companies control the Government and that in a nutshell is your problem.
Insurance, Pharma and Lobbyists should be REGULATED. Profits are one thing and should be reasonable but GREED and Power should be controlled and with Financial Penalties so we hit them where it hurts.
The American people should vote on changes to our Constitution not Congress who only votes to obey their Doner’s wishes and to hold POWER.