The Relevance of Universal Healthcare Policy in the US - Research Paper Example

July 21, The Relevance of Universal Healthcare Policy in the US The right to healthcare is one of the essential prerequisites for every human being in order for them to live a healthy life and to get proper medical right in time of need. Many of the countries in the modern world provide universal health care system to their citizens and people from those nations are leading a comparatively healthy life than people in the US. Most of the European countries where free universal health care system is prevalent ensure a high quality life to their citizens and this should be a model for the healthcare system in the US. However, most of the Americans are not able to get access to a good healthcare system as they do not have insurance and obtaining medical care becomes too expensive here. Universal healthcare system will help all the Americans irrespective of their financial status to get access medical care, which will result in decreasing illnesses and increasing health, which is an advantage for the citizens in USA. The US Senate should pass a bill to provide free and universal healthcare system for the Americans so that they get access to a good system of health care regardless of their financial status. In his article, “The Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care in The United States,” T W Philip makes clear the term ‘universal health care’. He says that it is the system of providing health coverage “for any and all willing participants” (The Pros And Cons Of Universal Health Care In The United States para.1). Universal healthcare is a government program funded by taxes. The United States is the only nation that does not have a universal health care system at present. The author of the aforesaid article says that Universal health care system is necessary and the citizens are claiming it as it is their birthright and everyone can get access to it. He makes a distinction between the universal health care and the socialized health care. He contends that under universal health care hospitals, doctors, drugs etc remain independent which function for profit or non profit. Socialized medicine is the industry controlled by the government. So, if a person wants his medical insurance he should work under the government. If he loses his job, his medical insurance is also withdrawn. Many of the citizens suggest that America’s health care solution is to have a “nationalized health plan” ( Longley 4), under which medical care for the citizens will be the responsibility of the federal government and the doctors and the hospitals will be under their control. All Americans should have the right to enjoy free health care system like citizens of the other nations. The parliament needs to pass the bill for universal healthcare for American people because the Preamble of the US Constitution includes in its purpose an aim to “promote the general welfare” (Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care point. 2) of the citizens of the nation. The United States of America is one of the developed nations in the world and it could be recognized as the only country which does not ensure health care for its citizens. For a better health care system, US should stop the medical bankruptcies, and try to improve the public health by reducing the overall healthcare spending. It is the lack of guaranteed healthcare system which has resulted in the poor health of the Americans as compared to citizens of other developed nations of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked the US health care system “37th of 190 countries” (Gelder & Pibel), which is far below most of the European countries. Life expectancy in US is also shorter than 27 other countries. These factors indicate that there is an urgent need to revamp the present healthcare system in the country so that its status can be uplifted at par with other developed nations. Due to high cost of health care system, both the large and small firms are pulling back from offering health care benefits. This is due to the pressure from the globalized economy and due to the problem of financing. Large companies come up to provide medical benefits but the problem is if the government is not able to finance it, the private health insurance will benefit only a minor group with high income. The federal government raises funds only to subsidize the medical facilities for families with lower income. However, if it makes suitable modifications for universal coverage, it can include the health plans put forward by many private agencies. But the main factor is that the government should be ready to finance it. This has become a major issue in the country. While large companies used to insure the workers earlier, due to the problem of finance the companies have drastically reduced the number of individuals to whom they give such coverage. “In 2000, 67% of nonelderly Americans had employer-sponsored health insurance” (Swartz Para.1). But now it has reduced to 63%. United States is the only developed Western industrialized nation which still does not have any form of national health insurance. This is because more than 40 million people of US are uninsured due to the increased rate of health plan. The rate of the private insurers is also increasing. In their work, ‘Health policy: Crisis and Reform in the US Healthcare Delivery System,” the writers discuss the healthcare system in Germany and point out that US have to learn some lessons from this. For example it is “solidarity- based financing” (Crawford & Harrington 357). This means employer and employee financing unlike funding from general taxes that helped Germany in the health protection. According to the writers, US should adopt this method for the betterment of the healthcare system in US. One of the biggest problems in the country is that the patients cannot afford the health coverage prevalent in the nation. The insurance companies do not assist them in treating serious illness like cancer or asthma. Patients ailing from such diseases have to spend their own money for the treatment or they will have to leave it untreated. The nation should provide universal healthcare system as it helps the doctors and other medical professionals to concentrate on their duty towards the patients. At present, most of the doctors focus on the insurance procedures which divert their attention to the patients and their treatment. Healthcare has become “increasingly unaffordable” (Messerli Para.1) for the business organizations as well as individuals. Due to the high cost, business entities have to spend much on the health premiums and they are able to spend much less on their core operations. Similarly, individuals who have to pay more money on health premiums have less leeway for spending on other daily activities. Because of this, less money is saved into the economy which slows down the nation’s economic growth. If the government adopts a more controlled system by passing a bill for free universal healthcare system, the cost spend unnecessarily could be reduced which will result in economic growth. Mohammad N. Akhter points out in his article that the need for universal health coverage is growing in US, and if the nation fails to provide this coverage, it will surely threaten the health status of the public. He puts forward an alternative approach to the “single -payer system,” (Akhter Para.1) which is to deliver the health care system under the leadership of APHA (American Public Health Association). He says that the members of this association have great interest in the establishment of the system of universal healthcare for all the residents of the US. They are ready to develop a campaign for the reform of the healthcare delivery system and the provision of health insurance coverage which is helpful to win the support of the majority of residents of the US. Jonathan Lemco in his work says that a nation like United States may not want to reduce the health care expenditure. But according to him, reducing this expenditure may help in having considerable payoffs. He says that it is possible to increase the health status of the citizens by the allocation of money away from the more expensive procedures and techniques involved and this may be helpful to “reduce the fraction of GNP spent on health care”(Lemco 118). Majority of the citizens support universal coverage because there is an increase in the demand for their affordable access to healthcare. US have adequate doctors, nurses and other facilities, but still they are not able to develop a universal plan. For this, they will have to impose the “discipline of the marketplace” (Herzlinger Para.2) so that the patients can spend wisely and the providers can price their service appropriately and the government can cut short their waste and inefficiencies. In the work ‘The New Public Health’ the author argues that the system that is prevailing in US is a mixture of independent, private, and public agencies. This is described as a “non-system” (Varavikova & Tulchinsky 376) in the book. Even though this is a complex interactive service, it fails to provide universal access. In order to compensate for this, public health associations have taken up the leadership roles in advocating, developing and achieving the health promotion. This leadership by the public association is a solution for problem that is suggested by Mohammad N. Akhter. The healthcare law of the US seeks to extend the medical insurance to more than 30 million people, which can help lower and middle income Americans. It has become the duty of the US Senate to develop a universal healthcare system by passing a bill which may lead to increasing the health status of US citizens at par with the other developed countries. Presidents of the nation have been trying for decades to develop such a system in the country. Recently, “President Obama signed legislation on March 23, 2010, to overhaul the nation’s health care system and guarantee access to medical insurance for ten millions of Americans” (Health Care Reform para.1), which could be considered as a sign of the emergence of a new era of universal healthcare system in the US. Work Cited Akhter, Mohammad. N. APHA Policies on Universal Health Care: Health for a Few or Health for All?. American Journal of Public Health. 2003. Web.21 July 2011. Crawford, Cassandra & Harrington, Charlene. Health policy: crisis and reform in the U.S. health care delivery system. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2004. Print Gelder, Sarah van. & Pibel, Doug. Health Care: It's What Ails Us. Yes. 2006. Web.21 July 2011. Health Care Reform, The New York Times. 2011. Web.21 July 2011. Herzlinger ,Regina. Health Care Can the United States provide health care for all? What Matters.2009.Web.21 July2011. Lemco, Jonathan. National health care: lessons for the United States and Canada. University of Michigan Press. 1994. Print Longley, Robert. Should the US Adopt a Nationalized Health Care System?.About.com. 2006.Web.21 July 2011. Messerli, Joe. Should the Government Provide Free Universal Health Care for All Americans?. Balanced politics.2011.Web.21 July 2011. Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care?. Procon org .Web.21 July 2011 Swartz, Katherine .Universal Health Care: No Sick Joke. Bloomberg Business week. 2011. Web.21 July 2011. The Pros And Cons Of Universal Health Care In The United States, Brazen Careerist .2011.Web.21 July 2011. Varavikova, Elena. & Tulchinsky, Theodore H.The new public health. Academic Press. 2009. Print Read More