Healthcare in the U.S.
Healthcare in the United States has become a dominant issue in our society. The U.S. is one of the “strongest and” most powerful countries in the world, but we still cannot find a solution to the healthcare issue that has been predominant for decades. The healthcare system is mostly private and it is difficult for low-income citizens and minorities to have access to a healthy life. Healthcare should be treated as a public good so everyone can have access to it regardless of their ability to pay.
Having a private and a public healthcare system in the country has proven that not everyone has the same access to be treated by a Doctor. With the current healthcare system,
about 27.5 million Americans are still without any type of healthcare nor covered by any insurance.
Although uninsured people have the ability to go to the ER at a public hospital, costs are extremely high and uninsured people cannot afford to pay the fees out-of-pocket. Hospital bills are the reason why most people are bankrupt/in debt in the United States. By treating healthcare as a public good, people would be able to have access to be treated by a medical professional, even if they cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket fees.
In other countries, like Spain and Canada, the citizens pay through a single-payer system in which you pay your healthcare program through your taxes. When it comes to healthcare systems, the citizens of Canada feel the most positive and pleased with how the system works. Canada’s healthcare system was created by T.C. Douglas in a small town after being recruited to work for office in his job as a pastor. Canada’s system places the well-being of its citizens above profit audit has it citizens pleased. Another great example of a healthcare system would be Hong Kong’s healthcare system since it also illustrates that a single-payer system works more efficient than the multi payer system that we have implemented in the United States.
Although Canada’s healthcare system sounds great, it would be difficult to implement it in the United States. Our country’s ideologies and culture is different and, what works for some people do not always work for everyone. As a country, we have to strive to be better and keep improving the system we currently have by implementing new policies that will help us achieve a great nation, even if that means that big corporations would have to lose money in order to have the people covered and safe by placing people’s well-being as a priority.
If we manage healthcare as a public good rather than as a private issue, corporations would be losing a vast amount of money and people who do not sympathize with the ideology of creating equal healthcare for everyone through taxes would argue that this idea exhibits socialism and would proceed to defend the nation’s purpose and its whole concept of democracy. However, many people who do not have access to medical treatment are more than often stuck in life or death situations while struggling to sustain a family and place food in their tables. People who are in this situation, cannot afford to pay healthcare or ER out-of-pocket fees, and are often seen with no way to treat illnesses and diseases. At the end, we are all human beings and we all deserve to be treated equally under the system.
Changing the structure of the healthcare system into a public good will bring controversies and challenges to our country undoubtedly. However, on the long run, modifying the healthcare system can be one of the best things we can do as a power nation. Providing healthcare access for all of the citizens in the United States will create a better quality of life and a higher life expectancy. As a nation, we cannot claim that we are the greatest when we have millions of people being denied access to healthcare coverage.
