It is said that the United States is the land of freedom and opportunity, but it is rarely ever mentioned that it is also the land that has the most expensive healthcare system in the world. By which, many cannot possibly afford. Many countries have been transitioning to free healthcare systems, but the United States seems to not be following that lead any time soon. I believe that government should provide free health care to everyone in the United States because it is a human right, it could potentially save a lot of lives, and reduce overall healthcare spending.
Ironically, America is a country in which citizens have a constitutional right to bear arms but not a right to universal health care. It praises death, not life.
Almost 50 million Americans are uninsured. Many of which happen to live in poverty. According to Thomas J. Papadimos from BMC, “Employment, education, income, and race are important factors in a person’s ability to acquire health care access”. That is because the United States is one of the few countries that does not have universal health care. Most of the country’s health care is provided by private organizations. Making it unaffordable to many people, whether black or white, poor, uneducated, and so on.
Barack Obama signed a law in 2010 called the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, whose main goal was to make health insurance available and affordable to more people. However, the issues are far from fixed. Private organizations are still capitalizing as much money as they possibly can from people because it is viewed as a luxury and commodity. The system remains inequitable. Leaving people with a difficult choice of either having health care or being able to survive by paying rent and food is completely immoral. It is immoral to allow people to die simply because they can’t afford health insurance.
For instance, many Americans are refusing to get tested for the global pandemic of Covid-19, also known as the coronavirus, because of the lack of health insurance. Out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits can be dear, but the real issue is the Covid-19 treatment, which, according to NPR, can range from $2,000 all the way to tens of thousands of dollars. And even if an uninsured person tests positive but isn’t at risk of complications, affording sick leave is not always accessible to everyone. 1 in 10 Americans do not have paid sick leave. People can’t even afford to get sick.
The fact that money decides whether or not someone lives says so much about the US as a country. The virus has uncovered many of the flaws in the American healthcare industry. Health care should not be a market when human beings are involved, everyone should have the right to live healthy. Everyone is equal, and everyone should have the same opportunities when it comes to health care.
The most obvious benefit of why the government should provide free health care to all is the possibility of saving lives. Those who are uninsured have a much higher risk of death, and according to Harvard researchers, “Lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44,789 deaths per year, which translates into a 40% increased risk of death among the uninsured”. Those are over 44,000 preventable deaths if only the country provided free health care. When compared to a country with free health care such as Italy or Canada, it is evident that there is a trend in deaths and health care coverage. There is a much lower mortality rate when the health coverage is higher.
Although free health care would benefit the impoverished, it would also greatly benefit those who are able to afford the current health care prices. That is because research shows that more extensive health coverage could potentially improve the quality of health care. Ironically, the United States is the country with the most expensive health care per capita, but it is also poorer quality compared to other developed nations. The infant mortality rates and life expectancy would decrease because of the decrease in drug-related and illness cases.
A prime example of a country saving lives with free health care is Cuba. Cubans maintain good health and have small chances of chronic diseases due to their access to free health care because their doctors are abundant and focus on preventative medicine and preventative spread of illnesses and disorders. Cuba has one of the smallest low infant mortality rates in the world and a higher life expectancy rate than the United States.
Free health care would encourage people to stay healthy, practice healthy eating and fitness habits, reduce overall illnesses, etc. The percentage of people dying from preventable causes will greatly decrease. Therefore, the government should provide free health care for everyone.