The Benefits to Society

The United States is the only industrialized country without a single-payer universal health care system. In the U.S. numerous presidents have proposed universal health care plans, for example in 1912 Theodore Roosevelt ran with a proposal of universal health care. By the 1920's many believed that universal care would be the best for everyone, and in The Social Security Act of 1935 FDR attempted to add universal health care but did not because of pressure from the medical industry. In the U.S. today private health care companies spend between 20-30 percent of the premium payments on administration as opposed to Medicare a universal health plan that spends just three percent. Nearly thirty countries have a successful universal health care plan. For example Canada, their system offers many benefits to all residents including long term and chronic care as well as health coverage, all this while still having patient and doctor freedom of choice. Their system also has higher patient satisfaction than the U.S. More than 14,000 doctors favors a single payer system in the U.S. ;this would free them of countless paper work the insurance companies demand. .
Monetarily speaking, a universal health care plan would save the U.S. three billion dollars a year because it would dramatically reduce administration. A universal system would be a system of macro management with everything being managed as a whole as opposed to the micromanagement of the United States' health care system today that spends ridiculous amounts on administration. To add, macro management has shown lower rates of health care inflation. Currently the U.S. spends more than 7,000 dollars per person on health care yet our infant mortality rate,maternal mortality, and longetivity rate our some of the worst in the industrialized world. Countries such as France, Germany, and Italy have universal care and save an average of 12,000 more children a year than the U.S. Insurance companies revenue last year was 120 billion dollars, 40 billion of which was just profit. While, Health Affairs reports that half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills.
Many states have addressed the dire need for health care reform, including Massachusetts. They have enacted a health care plan that guarantees health care to all legal residents without penalty of existing conditions, This plan makes health care affordable and accessible for all residents. In most of the industrialized world private health insurance exists only for premium services usually unnecessary procedures. Universal coverage would greatly reduce the risks of contagious diseases, disability, bankruptcy, and the usage of emergency rooms for routine patient care.