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EXPLORATORY ESSAY

For many Americans, when they get sick they either end up paying out of pocket or having it covered by their insurance. Private Health Insurance is now the dominant form of healthcare offered in America. However, many Americans are uninsured, which has led to the debate on whether the United States should switch to a universal payer system. Under Universal healthcare, every American would have insurance unlike with the current system that we have now. Additionally, it would mean more affordable healthcare and access to health services for people who could not previously access it. This would also mean higher taxes, which many Americans are opposed to. The question is whether or not moving to a single-payer system is better or worse for the country in the long run.

The article “Why Medicare-for-All Is Not Good for America”  by Edward Eichhorn and Michael Hutchinson provides alternatives for ways to improve the medical system without having to get rid of the one we have now. It summarizes many of the common complaints about the effects of universal healthcare in America. It states that by “eliminating the insurance industry, the plan would also eliminate one million jobs”. In addition, the article points out how although 70 percent of Americans when polled approved of Medicare for all, only 30 percent supported it is a requirement. Some of the alternatives they stated were requiring all employers to provide health insurance for their employees, controlling drug costs, and eliminating hospital facility fees for outpatient testing and standardizing all imaging and lab testing fees. They highlight how medicare for all would increase taxes, so it would not receive much bipartisan support. To simply put it some Americans do not want to pay for other people’s healthcare. Furthermore, countries that have a universal healthcare system also have on average a longer waiting time. And Countries often combine universal health coverage with other systems to introduce competition. 

There’s no doubt that the majority of Americans support the installment of a government-run healthcare system rather than private insurance. This is made ambitiously clear when one looks at the exit polls that show that an overwhelming number of Americans want a single player system. With the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the numerous problems our current system has there’s no doubt that the present-day American Healthcare system is broken. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 28.1 million Americans without health insurance in 2016, a sharp decline from the 46.6 million who had been uninsured before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Many Universal Health Care advocates like to cite the fact that a Yale study estimated over $450 billion and more than 68,000 lives could be saved each year with a single-payer, universal health-care system. 

Furthermore, if universal health was to be implemented it would force hospitals and doctors to provide the same standard of service at a low cost. Among Americans, 25 percent had little or no health insurance. As a result, more than 101,000 of them died each year because they were unable to afford the high healthcare costs. This is all due to the fact the current system enables competition between hospitals, which leads them to be more concerned about making a profit, rather than providing a service. Hospitals usually end up spending tons of money on new and advanced medical devices Paying competitive salaries to doctors and offering costly services, all in hopes to attract wealthy clients. A study from a team led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researcher found that higher total healthcare spending in the United States was largely attributable to higher rates including higher prescription rates, higher wages for physicians and nurses, higher hospital management costs and higher prices for other medical services.

There is no doubt that the current system we have now is broken, however, switching to a government-run health care system might also have negative effects. Although the overwhelming amount of Americans support some form of universal health, they do not want it to be a requirement. The debate over universal healthcare will always be hot button issues, both sides touting themselves to be correct. Some argue that the only way America can have a universal healthcare system or a one similar to it is if there was an option to have private health insurance for those who might not want to be a part of the public option. But regarding what side you fall one, there is an overwhelming agreement that the American healthcare system is severely broken.

Work Cited

Amadeo, Kimberly. “Why America Is the Only Rich Country Without Universal Health Care.” The Balance, The Balance, 13 Mar. 2020

Anderson, Gerard, et al. “U.S. Health Care Spending Highest Among Developed Countries.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 8 Jan. 2019

Hutchinson, Michael, and Edward Eichhorn. “Why Medicare-for-All Is Not Good for America.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 26 Apr. 2019, 

Montgomery, Kelly. “Difference Between Universal Coverage and a Single-Payer System.” Verywell Health, Verywell Health, 22 Feb. 2020