Pros and Cons of Universal Healthcare
Believe it or not, there are many different pros and cons when it comes to healthcare. Before I get into those, I want to talk about how Obamacare tends to work. It is a common viewpoint that higher income families are basically paying for the lower income families healthcare. Obamacare actually mandates that everyone either pays for health insurance or else pays a tax (Amadeo, 2017). Unfortunately, this is not always enforced. It also helps businesses provide health insurance and it also expands Medicaid to lower income families (Amadeo, 2017). Medicaid is a government program that helps lower income families pay for healthcare. Medicaid is often controversial because those paying taxes are afraid that their money is going to people who waste their money on drugs, cigarettes, etc. or are too lazy to get a job to help pay for their healthcare. Generally the idea of helping lower income families is obviously a good thing, unless they are "cheating the system".
Pros of healthcare:
A right to healthcare could save lives. Nearly 50,000 deaths per year are caused due to lack of insurance. Statistics show that countries who see healthcare as a basic human right, have a three year longer average lifespan.
Also, a right to healthcare could also lower the cost of healthcare in the United States. According to the American Journal of Public Health, the countries that provide universal healthcare spend nearly half as much on healthcare that the United States does.
The United States is a wealthy country, and should be able to afford providing healthcare to all citizens. Countries such as Germany, France, and Italy have a lower Gross Domestic Product rate than the United States, and they are still able to provide health insurance for all.
Overall, there are many different pros of healthcare. The list goes on. Internationally, healthcare is viewed as a basic human right and even that should be enough to provide healthcare for all citizens.
Cons of healthcare:
"People should work to pay for their own healthcare and not live off of the government." This is a common argument against universal healthcare. This is often a conservatives viewpoint of healthcare. People have the right to purchase healthcare, but those who refuse to get a job and pay taxes should not just be given handouts for being "lazy".
The Preamble of the United States Constitution mentions "to promote general welfare" which means to promote, not to simply provide. There are many arguments that the Constitution should be updated because the world is constantly changing. However, this is also another argument that people who think traditionally might use.
Finally, there is an argument that universal healthcare would increase the wait on medical services. This argument is basically contradicting itself because either way, a human being is not getting the service that they need fast enough. This argument comes down to the hierarchy of the rich and the poor.
There are many other pros and cons of the idea that Healthcare should be a basic human right. This is obviously a controversial topic, and each sides have supporting evidence for their points.
What do you guys think about Healthcare being a basic human right?
Sources:
Amadeo, K. (n.d.). How to Make Obamacare Work for You. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from
https://www.thebalance.com/how-does-obamacare-work-3306053
Right to Health Care ProCon.org. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://healthcare.procon.org
This was a really great and informative post. Thank you for clearing up what Obamacare was. I can now tell those who dislikes it real facts about it and see if they have a different view point. I do agree that people shouldn't "cheat the system" by free loading off of the benefits they get. I don't blame the ones who are worried about where their money goes in all this because I wouldn't like it if I took the time to give some of my income away to those who didn't spend it wisely. People should be grateful that they're getting this assistance instead of taking it for granted; if some how, some way, they lose this assistance, they'd be out of luck.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that lack of insurance caused 50,000 deaths per year is mind blowing. This shows that having health insurance is the most important thing to have; making sure that you're protected is something that should be at the top of our lists. It makes sense that you said the argument about "universal healthcare would increase the wait on medical services" contradicts itself because it doesn't change the fact that help is still needed. Stopping universal healthcare just so that there isn't a wait on medical services will only make things worse; they'll be able to get quick medical services, but what if they can't pay for it due to the lack of insurance?
I believe that healthcare should be a basic human right because we all are going to need help in some way. There needs to be a some type of assistance to help those who are in a situation they can't handle on their own. The ones who do take it for granted needs to re-evaluate their decisions; appreciate the help because once it's gone, you'll probably live a life full of regret.
My step-mother is British and she wants universal health care in the U.S. I like the idea but I know some really lazy people but then I also know some people who could use the little extra help so I am at a cross on where to stand for the whole idea. I also think trying to change it now would confuse to many Americans. This post cleared up the fuzzy lines on why everyone was so mad about abolishing Obamacare, now I understand it a little.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to what else you have to say.
I never really cared about health insurance until Senator Bernie Sanders brought it up during the primaries, mostly because it was my first time being able to vote. I am so for universal healthcare because we're one of the biggest and wealthiest countries and we don't think we should provide healthcare for all our citizens. I also think it's just morally the right thing to do. Just because you can't afford healthcare doesn't mean your health is any less important. Great post!
ReplyDeleteKayla J. Ruiz