Universal health care

George Burga

English

13 April 2009

Universal Health Care in America

Universal Health Care has been an issue in America for several years now, and several people would benefit from having it. The United States should be capable of offering basic health care for all citizens who cannot afford it; doing so would extend the lifetime expectation of all its citizens. “The UnitedStates does even worse in the World Health Organization rankings of performance on level of health—a stunning seventy-second. Life expectancy in the U.S. is shorter than in twenty-seven other countries; the U.S. ties with Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia for infant mortality—ahead of only Latvia among industrialized nations.”

Most people think that universal health care would cost moreto the country than what they spend now to all the providers, but what most of them do not understand is that it would really save them a lot of money. While the United States has the best trained doctors in the world treatments still cost too much; universal health care would help citizens in need all over the country. The myth that the United States has the leading health care system in the worldis very untrue, and the U.S. ranks poorly compared to other nations in health care despite having the most qualified health care providers and the best medical infrastructure of any other nation.

Several myths about the United States Health Care system need to be explained. First is the myth that Universal Health Care would cost too much. This is very deceiving because the U.S. spendsforty percent more than other countries with universal health care. Also, if we switched from health care providers to universal health care the U.S. would save 100 to 200 billion dollars per year. The United States spends fifty to one-hundred percent more on administrations than single payer systems. Another myth is that universal health care would keep citizens from getting needed services. Thisis untrue as it has been proven that countries with universal health care visit the doctor more frequently for treatments. Under a universal health care system all people would visit their doctors more frequently, and could all live healthier lives.

Another myth is that universal health care would be considered socialized medicine. It is untrue because it would be a health care paymentsystem not a health care distribution system. Health Care providers would not be employees of the government; they would be their individual companies. Also, after taking numerous polls in the United States it is known that sixty and seventy-five percent of American's would prefer a universal health care system in America. Countless myths are floating around about the universal health care plan, butthis would certainly help us especially with our economic status. Most people can't afford health care due to the rising prices of coverage.

The Republican attitude toward universal health care can be brought down to the three "nots": not our voters, not our method of solution, and not a main priority for us. None of the Republican candidates for president even tried to speak about adetailed plan for universal health care coverage, nor did Republican voters demand one. The only candidate, who actually worked toward universal health care, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, apologized for his opinion and then spoke no more of it. Republican nominee John McCain's health care plan does not even make a start at covering all of the uninsured people in the United States.

Whenpeople speak about the present health care crisis, they usually comment on the raising costs. People usually talking about the crisis speak about the 22,000 who die yearly due to lack of coverage, but emphasize that the resources provided to them could not only assist them but save us. Estimates of about fifty million Americans go uninsured, and a comparable number go under insured. The...