Healthcare in the United States. Essay

Universal healthcare would benefit a large segment of the population, and it should be implemented as quickly as possible to ensure the nation's health and to save money.

There are some clear arguments against universal healthcare. One of the most well-known and cited is the idea that the Federal Government is not capable of efficiently managing healthcare, and they cite the problems with the Veteran's Hospitals and Medicare as a very real example of that mismanagement and inability to control costs and other aspects of universal healthcare. Many government agencies are indeed inefficient, understaffed, and mismanaged, so care must be taken to ensure this does not happen with any agency managing universal healthcare. There should be strict controls and measures in place to ensure the agency is managed efficiently and provides the best results, and there should be measures in place to ensure the quality and delivery of healthcare services, as well.

Many feel that universal healthcare would amount to socialized medicine, and it would give the government far too much power to change laws to exclude healthcare for "at risk" populations, such as smokers, the obese, and others. In effect, they would legislate good health, taking away personal freedom of choice. Many people believe that the government would become far too involved in healthcare, and it would reduce the effectiveness of healthcare, and it would create a socialized concept of medicine that would actually limit patient options and freedom to choose doctors, medications, and treatment options. The government would mandate certain treatments for certain diseases and illnesses, and there would be little patients could do to advocate their own rights.If this happened, healthcare would actually suffer, and there would need to be some kind of patient advocate or ombudsman to help ensure patients get the proper care and have the right to choose treatment options and to understand all those options.

In conclusion, there are certainly two very clear sides to the universal healthcare debate. Those who oppose it cite costs, socialization of medical care, and government intervention as some of the reasons they do not support universal healthcare. Proponents, on the other hand, cite reduced healthcare costs, better healthcare for everyone, and even increased employee morale as some of the benefits of a universal healthcare plan. The United States is the only industrialized nation without a universal healthcare plan for its people, and it is time for the United States to step up to the plate and make a change for the better in its healthcare coverage for its people.

References

Chua, K-P. "Arguments and Counterarguments About Universal Health Care." American Medical Student Association. 2006. 7 July 2008. http://www.amsa.org/uhc/uhc_counterarguments.pdf

Canadian Healthcare System Fact Sheet." American Medical Student Association. 2006. 7 July 2008. http://www.amsa.org/studytours/CHS_FactSheet.pdf

Emanuel, E., & Fuchs, V.R.. Solved! It Covers Everyone. Washington Monthly, (2005, June) 37, 20+.

Orient, Jane. Fractured Healthcare: Americans Are Told That We Need 'Universal Healthcare.' The New American 8 Jan. 2007: 10+.

Thorpe, Kenneth E. And Woodruff, Robert W. "Impacts of Health Care Reform: Projections of Costs and Savings." National Coalition on Health Care. 2005. 7 July….....