Universal Health Care

Hello Crossleft Community,
The following paper was written by my daughter, Ellen Vance Loyd, for an English class...Yep, I'm proud of her and thought this paper to be timely.
Gary

Universal Health Care

Over the last few decades, the United States has experienced soaring costs in health care and there is a growing debate about the possible solutions. The number of uninsured Americans is increasing because of out of control costs. Many millions of Americans lacks any form of health insurance and millions more have inadequate coverage. It has become clear that health care for all is something that must be achieved.

The lack of healthcare for all Americans has become a moral issue that must be addressed. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not have some form of universal healthcare guaranteed for all citizens as stated on the website sponsored by Sojourners Magazine, in an article entitled “Healthcare RX for the System” (par 6). Other countries have declared health care to be a basic right while the United States treats health care as a privilege for those who can afford it.

The 2005 Employer Health Benefits Survey found on the website sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows health insurance premiums have been rising on average by double-digit percentage points over the past five years while the percentage of employers offering health insurance dropped from 69% in 2000 to 60% in 2005. Many employers are only able to provide high-deductible insurance that covers less and less healthcare costs. The net result is that more employed middle-class Americans find themselves with low quality healthcare or no access at all. Offering Universal Healthcare would improve the health of the people in our country and save them money.

There are a variety of reasons people give to oppose the idea of Universal Healthcare. The United States has the largest hospitals and clinics with the best trained doctors and nurses of any industrialized nation. Therefore, many believe it would be too risky to make any major changes in our system.

Lifestyles people choose can have a direct effect on their health, so some argue that people making healthy choices should not have to pay for care of people who refuse to. Some oppose Universal Healthcare because they believe it would have to be paid for with much higher taxes. They feel that wiping out a few hundred dollars a month in insurance premiums would not make up for the higher tax rates required to pay for health care. The government must pay for this somehow, as noted on the website sponsored by Balanced Politics, in the article entitled “Should the Government Provide Free Universal Healthcare for All Americans?”(par 9)

Though many people believe the United States has the best healthcare in the world, it is a fact that our country ranks twenty-third in infant mortality, as stated on the website sponsored by Connecticut Coalition for Universal Healthcare. Kao-Ping Chua, with the American Medical Student Association, notes on the website sponsored by AMSA that, “The World Health Organization ranks our healthcare system thirty-seventh on overall performance, and twenty-fourth on health level attainment.”(par 12)

It is true that many people suffer with disease because of poor lifestyle choices, but many have illness because of other reasons like genetics, aging and accidents. Regardless, all people who are sick need care. Universal Healthcare would assist patients with counseling who need to make changes in how they live. The tax increase to pay for healthcare would be offset by wage increases since employers would not have to pay for health insurance.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are supposed to be basic rights of all Americans. How can we tolerate a system that denies people medications and treatments that could be lifesaving? Is it acceptable to deny people healthcare based on their ability to pay? Or is healthcare a basic need that should be provided for every citizen? It is time to change the American healthcare system and create a society in which healthcare is available for all.

Works Cited
Battista, John R. “Case for Universal Healthcare in the United States.”
Connecticut Coalition for Universal Healthcare. Nov. 27, 2007, www.cthealth.server101.com

Bonnyman, Gordon “Healthcare RX for the System.” Sojourners. Nov. 11, 2007,
www.sojo.net (vol. 36, no. 2 pp 15-16)

Chau, Kao-Ping “Arguments and Counterarguments About Universal Healthcare.”
American Medical Student Association. Nov. 11, 2007, www.amsa.com

Kaiser Family Foundation, “2005 Employer Health Benefits Summary of Findings.”
Nov. 11, 2007 www.kff.org

Messerli, Joe “Should the Government Provide Free Universal Healthcare For All
Americans?” Balanced Politics. Nov. 27, 2007, www.balancedpolitics.org