Universal Healthcare: Access Challenges in US Despite Wealth - Essay Sample

Introduction

The United States is one of the welthiest countries, and despite this, not everyone has access to healthcare. Though amendments have often been put in place to try and increase access to quality care, some people still find it challenging to access healthcare. Life is a fundamental element for everyone, and the topics related to healthcare accessibility continue to dominate the debates across the country. Various countries have already taken the step to offer free health insurance of varying degrees to the citizens, and this resulted in having a quality population. I believe in the idea that each person has a right to life and this is why healthcare should be free to every person regardless of the cultural or financial background as this will be one of the ways of alleviating poverty and improving the quality of life for everyone.

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It is the responsibility of the United States to provide and support the right to health care. It is a universal human right that everyone should be given the opportunity to live a life that will bring happiness, and this can only be attained if people are healthy (Facs, (2017). However, whenever the government cannot take the necessary steps to ensure that individuals can easily access quality care, then it is failing to take care of its nation. The founding fathers of the country foresaw the significance of having access to health care, and as a result, they noted this in the founding documents of the country

This means that just as people have been granted liberty and happiness, then life should also be valued by the government. It is through free access to health care that the government can preserve life and allow people to pursue happiness. Based on the statement on the declaration of independence, it means that the United States should seek by all means to promote the general welfare of the citizens and offering an easy path quality care is one of the critical responsibilities of the government.

Free healthcare could save millions of American lives. One of the leading causes of death across the globe is not diseases, but instead, it is the lack of medical care. As it is evident in the developing countries, people are suffering from illnesses that have a cure; however, their qualities of lives worsen every day and this because they cannot access quality care. The case is similar in the United States. This is one of the most developed countries with numerous great policies that serve human welfare, but this does not hide the fact that many people are still poor. According to reports by CDC, the number of people uninsured below the age of 65 stands at 28.2 million, and this translates to the number of an individuals risk of dying at any time in case anything happens to them (Frist, 2016). It is the lack of timely and efficient care that millions of Americans die daily. However, if healthcare should be made free, then people within the country would live a risk-free life.

Offering free healthcare would improve the economy of the country. People need to be in good health to go work, but when they health is often deteriorated, then they are bound to miss work and thus slow down the general productivity rate of the country. Most illnesses develop without management because people cannot have access to healthcare which in most cases, it is expensive. Therefore, people would often overlook that which can be avoided before it becomes severe. Even before the condition worsens, as long as someone is not feeling well, their rate of production is slowed, and this affects the overall output. When people have access to healthcare, they remain healthy and rarely miss work giving them the chance to contribute to the economy of the country. However, every person that misses work because of poor health that results from lack of access to health care causes a downfall to the economy of the country, and this is why healthcare should be free to promote growth in the economy.

One of the common arguments is that free healthcare would force the government to ration medical services. Free medical care would mean the government is accommodating everyone, and the demand from the institutions would overwhelm what the government can offer (Debate.org). Though this is somewhat true, the situation is manageable, and this is evident in countries like Singapore and Switzerland. The mentioned countries implemented the idea of universal care and have managed to take care of the population without strain, thus proving that free access to health care does not mean poor quality of care.

Another argument is that free care means more taxes because the government relies on taxes to manage the available medical system. Making healthcare free would mean that various health institutions would no longer charge the citizens for the services, but rather the cost will be translated to the government. As previously mentioned, it is the lack of access to care that affects the economy of the country (Johansen, 2017). Nevertheless, if people can have a good quality of life, they will be motivated to work even more, and the taxes would not strain their income. As people work well because they are healthy, levels of productivity will enhance, and the economy will grow, thus giving the government an opportunity to tax people fairly and maintain high standards of care. Besides, free healthcare would lower the earning of doctors. If this happens so, then many people would be discouraged to pursue medicine as a career and worsening the problem, the country is already facing nursing and physician shortages. Just as the government oversees earnings in other areas like the army, it should give the same consideration to the healthcare industry by ensuring that it offers excellent deals to the healthcare professionals. In turn, this would still encourage people to be nurses and physicians and counter the predicted problem.

Already accessibility to healthcare is an issue in the United States, and if the government does not take the necessary measures in implementing universal care, then many Americans will continue to suffer from preventable mortality. The economy will continue to worsen, and many people will remain uninsured. However, with free healthcare, the quality of life in the United States will improve, resulting in a hardworking nation with a booming economy. The rate of death will decline as many people freely access quality care. I, therefore, believe that healthcare should be free for everyone as a means of making the country a great nation.

References

Facs, K. L. (2017). Here's How to Reduce Healthcare Costs. 2017, from http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/here-s-how-reduce-healthcare-costs?page=0%2C2

Frist, B. (2016). From Volume to Value: Achieving Bold Change In Our Healthcare Payment Systems. From https://www.forbes.com/sites/billfrist/2016/06/30/from-volume-to-value-achieving-bold-change-in-our-healthcare-payment-systems/#1d0388449c82

Johansen, R. (2017). Future Challenges Facing Health Care in the United States. From http://panmore.com/future-challenges-facing-health-care-united-states