All in favor of Universal Health Care say I!

The American health care system is deeply troubled, and nothing short of radical restructuring will come close to solving this problem states David DeGrazia in his article from Opposing Viewpoints Health Care edition. Is America's health care system in need of change? Simply put, yes.

How can this change come about?

First and foremost, Americans need to be thoroughly informed about the pros and cons of universal health care. There are many opinions, concepts, and debates regarding this type of health care but many of these opinions are based on misconceptions which can lead to an individual's refusal to view both sides of the concept at hand and truly consider having a change for once as many view change as scary, shaky grounds.

In order to make a universal health care plan possible in existing in the US everyone will be paying taxes that will in turn provide this system with the funds to treat everyone in need. United we stand and united we should provide for each other. This process may mean that up to 50% of a working person's income may be withdrawn in taxes. The security that you along with everyone else can be treated, healthier, and properly covered and cared for without questions, concerns, or refusals should be persuasive enough to everyone involved. Imagine being able to go anywhere at anytime to receive any treatments and being able to stay and be cared for as long as you medically need to without having to pay a dime, speak with insurance companies or fight with insurance companies about what should be covered, where you are allowed to receive care, and how much they feel they are able to aid in the process of paying for the medical bill. In addition to this, no one would every be refused care or sent away to the correct hospital that falls under their insurance coverage. Universal health care provides just that! In critical times especially, no time would be wasted checking with insurance companies; you simply receive treatment and leave with no debt or burden left on your shoulders in terms of money and insurance coverage. Precious time can be saved and more lives can and will be saved through this type of system.

Doctors too would benefit from a universal health care plan as they would be free to focus on helping individuals without the hassle of consulting insurance agency and information. Not only that but another perk is involved. There are frequent suspicions about physicians and their way of treatment; knowing that they would make less money if more people were increasingly well and without the need for medical intervention many doubt doctors do their best to keep everyone healthy and treated in a timely and efficient manner. With universal health care physicians would receive bonuses through successfully keeping patients healthy, informed of preventative practices, and for effectively and efficiently treating those in need.

One of the many problems of the health care system in the United States is that an increasing amount of people cannot afford health care. The costs are increasing consistently which is directly effecting individuals as well as their families. Rising premiums for health care costs are forcing families and individuals to either drop health care all together and risk monetary devastation if something were to go wrong or they continue to pay the rising costs to keep their family protected and struggle to make ends meet elsewhere. Another concern in America according to Jonathan Oberlander, is that the uninsured are losing the health care battle the worst of all as he states that "the uninsured are much more likely to delay or forgo needed treatment, have their conditions diagnosed at a later stage and be in the hospital for avoidable conditions. Moreover, inadequate insurance coverage carries with it financial as well as medical risks; the cost of medical treatment can cause more bankruptcy in the United States. Indeed, about half of all bankruptcies in the United States involve a medical reason or large medical debt". Is health care really a security factor when many Americans are filing for bankruptcy because most of their money is going towards medical bills and rising premiums? Not likely.

Money seems to be the problem; as costs rise the citizens of United States increasingly struggle to pay these costs as their incomes are not rising as drastically or as fast as their health care costs are. All in all, more money is spent on health care in the U.S. than in any other country yet other countries continue to have longer life expectancies, lower in fact mortality rates, and higher life expectancy! According to World Health Org. the united states' health care system is not number one like Americans sometimes claim but is instead ranked 37th along with holding the rankings of 42nd in infant mortality and 43rd in life expectancy rates. It seems it is safe to say more money spent does not equal better health care to say the least. Some changes need to be made to ensure a longer, healthier life for every American.

And lastly, one common misconception of a universal health care plan is that medicine socialized and in turn would be controlled by the government and therefore those in the medical field must work under the government. This is untrue in the case that medicine does not need to be socialized. Like in Canada for instance, doctors own their practices and run them at their will and control as they please. The only difference would be that they would be dealing with only one insurance company instead of hundreds. This simplifies many processes doctors usually have to go through in order to treat a patient. If medicine were to be "socialized" then doctors would work for the government so there is indeed a slight difference between socialized and universal health care but only a slight difference.

I'll leave you with something to think about; United we stand so united we should provide for each other.

Countries in blue have some type of universal health care. Countries in green are currently attempting to impliment some type of universay health care. Orange countries have universal health coverage provided by United States war funding. Source.