The Rant

I can not imagine what it would be like to be sick and not be able to go to the doctor because I couldn't pay for it. Like school, and shelter, health care is one of the most basic of necessities. Why should it be hoarded for only those who can afford it? Do to corruption millions are doing without health care and medicine while a handful of CEO's are getting million dollar salaries. I can not see how the health care system in this country has gotten so out of hand, we are continuously falling down the charts of health care efficiency, people are dying, and for what, the sake of business? As of right now the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without a universal health care plan, how is this so, we are usually the innovator in everything and yet we have been swept in the dust for an issue of utmost importance. A universal health care plan would allow the government to regulate health care services which would take out most of the greed and corruption in a private health insurance based system. It would give everyone affordable health care based on income, that was efficient and most importantly equal. Your state of health, age, or economic standings should not effect the type of medical care you receive. Our health care system must return to it basic principles, that of caring and providing for all peoples without discrimination of any kind.

Just the Facts

The Ten Strongest Facts

1. 6.8 million working adults have been denied health coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions in the last two years, and 8.2 million said at least one member of their family has been dropped by their insurer during that period.

2. The United States health care system is ranked 37th of 190 countries, below most of Europe, Chile, and Costa Rica. When ranked for level of performance the U.S. ranked number 72 in the world.

3. An October 2005 Harris poll showed that 75 percent of people in the U.S. are in favors of a universal health care plane.

4. The 2005 Health Affairs reports that half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills.

5. HMO plans will sometimes not cover pricey surgeries or rehab procedures so many Americans are going to Canada or other countries to receive treatment. In the" Complete Medical Tourist" it is estimated that American will make "medical tourism" a 40 billion dollars industry by 2010.

6. In 1997 37 million people were uninsured. In 2007 47 million people were uninsured. Between the years 1996 and 2005 an average employee's spending on health premiums for themselves and their family rose by 85 percent, while incomes did not rise.

7. More than 15 percent of the population, more than 47 million people have no form of health insurance, this does not even cover the under insured.

8. The United States spends twice as much per capita than the average of the other ten richest countries. While more that one in six people in the U.S. under age 65 have no insurance.

9. A person without insurance is less likely to have diseases diagnosed early, less likely to receive preventative care and has 25 percent greater chance of dying early.

10. Compare with Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.K., the United States has the poorest health care. 51 percent of Americans skip care due to cost and 61 percent find after hours care outside the emergency room difficult to get.

What the experts say

Subtopic I: Flaws of the existing system
1. "In private practice we waste countless hours on billing and bureaucracy..diagnosis related groups have placed us between administrators demanding early discharge and elderly patients with no one to help them at home." - Physicians David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler
2. " In 1992 and 1994 hundreds of special interests groups cumulatively have spent in excess of 100 million dollars to influence the out come of [universal health care]. At least 97 firms and other health care clients have hired at least 80 former member of Congress who left the government in 1993 or 1994 to work for health care interests."- Charles Lewis Washington Post
3."One in five U.S. adults say they do not have adequate access to health care they need."- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2007
4 It's a global competitiveness issue. Even if it weren't, it's a cost issue. Health care costs are growing at a rate that's simply not sustainable. [Our members] are in the business of business, not the business of health care."- Charles Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development

Subtopic II: Benefits to Society

1. "Health insurers' overhead came to $120 billion last year, of which $40 billion was profit. By comparison, it would cost $54 billion to cover all the uninsured." -John Sheils of the Lewis Group heath care consultants
2."14,000 doctors and other health care professionals favor a single payer system." -Physicians for a national health program
3."It is disgraceful that an American mother has almost three times the rise of losing a child as a mother in the Czech Republic." - Nicolas D Kristof, New York Times

Subtopic III: Health Care as a Right

1." Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care." -United Nations 1948
2." Poverty, powerlessness, and inequality damage the health of an entire society...a huge dividend would result simply by reducing excessive CEO salaries and profits, and raising up those at the bottom of the income scale. We could start in the health care sector."- Rev. Linda H. Walling
3."Public education, social security, national defence, the Nation Institutes of Health, and military medicine in the U.S. are all socialized. These programs are government financed and providers of the services work for the government." David DeGrazia

Subtopic IV: Benefits for the Individual
1. "In 2005 more than a quarter of insured Americans didn't fill prescriptions, skipped recommended treatments, or didn't see a doctor when sick."-Commonwealth Fund's 2005 Biennial Health Insurance Survey
2. "6.8 million working adults have been denied health coverage because of preexisting medical conditions in the last two years, and 8.2 million said at least one member of the family has been dropped by their insurer during that period." - A 1992 Kaiser Family Foundation National Survey

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.

Flaws of the Existing System

Our health care system today is comprised of "payers", health insurance companies that are for profit, and thus more interested in making money then successfully serving their customers, the American people. To summarize, the American health care system is a capitalist business, where various insurance companies "cover" their patron's health care. In this practice people pay their heath insurance company a disclosed fee, either individually or through their employer and the insurance company covers the person's medical bills, medications, doctor visits, etc. This seems simple right? If only it were so. Millions have no insurance. Millions more are under insured and are paying exuberant premiums just to be assured health care, and even this is not always definite.
This system has been in place for almost a century, and ever since its start people have been pushing for reforms. As of 2007, 47 million people, 16 percent of our population live without any form of health insurance, a statistic estimated to significantly rise if this caustic system remains. Countless others are under insured, left with costly medical bills because their insurance company won't cover them. Sadly, these bills are often for life saving procedures that are absolutely necessary, yet the insurance company denies coverage, and in the majority of these cases the person must file for bankruptcy to pay for the procedures themselves.
Our country does have forms of universal health care, Medicaid for lower income people and Medicare for the elderly. These programs cover most of the health expenses for these two groups, yet even they need to be reformed. While these programs are a step in the right direction even they have their flaws. In 1983 an Amendment to the Social Security Act had Medicare pay a flat rate to hospitals when Medicare patients stayed in them, as opposed to the standard hospital fee. A doctor later testified that this caused many hospitals to not give as good of care to them because they were not paying as much. This is a prime example of why our health care system must be government regulated and not for profit.
The United States spends the most money on health care than any other country, yet statistics show that we have some of the least efficient care in the industrialized world. How can this be so? Possibly because for every dollar spent on health care a quarter of it goes just to administration, f.y.i. that's the people who work for the insurance company that must read each individual claim and decide if they should approve that person or not. Often these companies decide to approve when it is most profitable for them, not for the person involved. Our health system must be reformed, we need to have health care that is equal and affordable for everyone, where care is given blindly without thought to what that person's age, gender, income, or state of health is. Health care should not be a for profit business where many people get rich off the misfortunes of others.

Pro's vs Con's of Universal Health Care

Like every controversial subject, the topic of universal health care has its proponents and opponents. Hopefully, like other issues in the past, a compromise that satisfies some of the concerns on each side will be made, a compromise that benefits all involved; in this case the entire country.
Those who oppose a universal health care or single payer plan, for the United States raise some concerns with a universal plan. People against the plan fear it will cost our country too much financially, and our already fragile economy will be strained even further. They fear taxes will be raised dramatically, and that people would then demand universal plans for things such as housing and higher education. The opposition feels that the majority of the population already receives adequate health care, and those who do not have sufficient health care should make the initiative to receive it, for it is available through competing insurance companies or government funded programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Opponents of a universal health care plan feel it will be "socialized" medicine and will cause everyone to get insufficient care with long waiting lists for necessary procedures, as well as a lack of choices in doctors and treatments one can receive. Opponents argue that the government already sufficiently regulates the “for profit” insurance business of health coverage, and that individual health will suffer for the general benefit.
Those in favor of a universal health care plan for the entire country feel these concerns can be addressed and met in a health care reform, centering on a single payer, universal system. Proponents of universal health care argue that the government is just as responsible for health care as individuals, and so the government needs to insure sufficient care for every citizen. They argue that a large reform in health care in absolutely necessary and is in majority favor of most of the population. Statistics show that a whopping 47 million Americans have no health insurance at all, a number estimated to only increase in time without a reform, this doesn't even take into account the underinsured, who have been declined by insurance companies life saving procedures, because after all health insurance is a business and that business is looking to make the most money it can. Because of this those in favor argue health care must be government mandated and non-profit to eliminate the for profit insurance companies. Proponents argue that presidents and other concerned politicians have been pushing for a universal health care plan for over 100 years. To address this growing issue of health care, many states have passed health care reforms with single payer aspects to them. Proponents demonstrate that successful universal health care plans are already in effect in the United States, those of Medicaid and Medicare, theses programs are relatively successful and a similar system should be put into effect for everyone in the country. Those in favor argue that health care is a "public good", which means like school, police, libraries, and firefighter it too should be run by the government because all involved benefit. Proponents argue that every other industrialized country has a single payer system, which may be the reason those countries rank highest for medical care, with France taking the lead, while the U.S. lags behind ranking somewhere in the 30's. To assuage the concerns that a universal health care plan will cost too much financially, proponents argue that as of right now the U.S. spends the most money annually on health care than any country, and that a universal system of health care would actually dramatically decrease that cost because it would be regulated. Those in favor of a universal health care system argue that a dramatic health reform is absolutely necessary for the United States. Proponents feel a universal health care system would benefit all parties involved.
As is probably evident, I chose to write my paper in favor of a universal health care system. I chose to do so because I feel health care is a right everyone should have regardless of their economic status, age, or employment status. I believe health care is one of the most, if not the most important issue of our time because if the health and well being of our nation declines any further we will have no future. Reforms need to be started soon to help ease the deterioration of our nation's health.

Overview

Universal health care has flown under the radar for quite some time, but now thanks to our recent presidential campaign, and maybe a little due to the well loved Michael Moore, this controversy has become a major issue for our time and is now being addressed.
As of right now the United States does not have a universal health care plan for all citizens. There is Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for lower income families, but nothing for the rest. The health care in the U.S. is not run by the government, it is a capitalist industry, meaning it is a for profit industry consisting of insurance companies. Individually people must pay for their own health insurance or be fortunate enough to receive it through their employers. Roughly, 15 percent, 45 million Americans, have no health care at all. A universal health care plan would give everyone health care through the government paid for in taxes.
Universal health care is such a controversial topic because it would cause a huge change in our economy and way of life. While this change would not be impossible those who oppose it fear it would cause our already fragile economy further strain ( 16 percent of the U.S. economy functions on health care). Others fear health care modified by the government would weaken the aptitude of our health care, that doctors would not be as efficient and everyone would not receive as much care. Proponent of a "single-payer" system, universal health care feel it is not impossible and is a necessity to insure the health of everyone in this nation. Health care effects everyone involved and therefore this issue is a concern to the entire country.
I chose to research this topic because I feel it is one of the primary issues concerning the American population. Through taxes our government supplies our schools, police, libraries, and fire fighters; institutions deemed necessary for our well being, why should health care be run as a for profit organization and not mandated through the government so everyone has an opportunity to the same care? In my opinion health care needs to be universal for everyone in the United States, it is crucial for our well being.