Why I Think the United States Remains the Only Industrial Nation Without Nationalized Health Insurance
By Julia A. Keirns
“In the developed world, the United States is the only country which does not provide a complete universal healthcare access system” (Regoli, 2020). I believe there are several reasons why we remain the only industrialized nation without national health insurance coverage. America began as people immigrated here from other countries to escape too much government control. As these people thought about what they wanted in a government system, they all wholeheartedly agreed that the government should play a very limited role in the lives of its citizens. This is why we have the system that we do today, and also why it is so difficult for congress or the house of representatives to pass any legislation allowing the government to get more involved in our health care. People want their freedom and that includes the freedom to choose their healthcare coverage, how much they pay, and especially which doctors and hospitals they can go to.
For example, according to the YouTube video, “Which Countries Have The Best Healthcare,” Suzdaltsev stated that even though Spain has one of the best subsidized healthcare systems in the world, one of the main complaints by its citizens is the long delays in even seeing a doctor, not to mention getting any kind of a specialized surgery (Suzdaltsev, 2017). Additionally, the country of Singapore requires that absolutely no healthcare coverage is ever provided for free. In America, we have a maximum amount of deductible and out of pocket expense that we have to pay and then the rest of the year our medical coverage is 100% covered, which then gives us the incentive to get elective or non-life-threatening surgeries and procedures covered at no expense to ourselves, like a hip replacement or a knee replacement. This process encourages citizens to take care of their health and get procedures done to better their lives.
“Policy experts have pointed out that the country doesn’t have a comprehensive national health insurance system because American political institutions are structurally biased against this kind of reform” (Callaghan, 2019). “Any attempt at reform must pass through the obstacle course of congressional committees, budget estimates, conference committees, amendments and a potential veto while opponents of reform publicly bash the bill” (Callaghan, 2019).
There are both pros and cons to any kind of universal healthcare system. As Natalie Regoli states in her article “17 Universal Health Care Pros and Cons,” there are just six major pros consisting of lowering the cost of health care for the economy, reducing administrative costs for care access, simplifying the rules process, removing the competition, creating a workforce that is healthier, and helping children (Regoli, 2020). But it is easy to see that the list of cons far out-weigh the pros. She goes on to explain that universal healthcare requires people to pay for services they do not receive, it stops people from being careful about their health, it limits the accuracy of patient care, it causes people to have long wait times for the care they do need, it limits the payouts which doctors receive, it can limit new technologies because there is such a drive to keep costs down, it requires significant budgeting skills, and it limits services by restricting access to certain procedures or medications (Regoli, 2020).
Most people in America are not going to accept these restrictions, and therefore will never allow the government to step in and reform the current system. The bottom line is that universal healthcare coverage is very unlikely to happen any time soon in the United States.
References
Callaghan, T. (2019, October 6). Why the US does not have universal health care, while many other countries do. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/why-the-us-does-not-have-universal-health-care-while-many-other-countries-do-77591
Regoli, N. (2020). 17 Universal Health Care Pros and Cons. Retrieved from https://vittana.org/17-universal-health-care-pros-and-cons
Suzdaltsev, J. (2017, October 3). Which Countries Have the Best Healthcare? Now This World. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmL1jxQDuFk&feature=emb_title