Universal health care extends medical coverage to everyone in a designated region or country.
Universal health care is medical coverage provided free of charge to members of a political region like a state or country by the government. In times when many people are unemployed and uninsured, and thus can't afford basic medical care, universal health care may seem particularly appealing. While some countries offer universal health care, the United States has never embraced the idea.
Cost
Universal health care costs are paid by the government, but ultimately, it is tax payers that bear the costs of universal health care through the taxes they pay. To some people, the egalitarian ideal of spreading everyone's health care costs across the population is attractive, while others feel that they should not be forced to pay for others' health care costs.
Need
While the United States is still among the countries with the best quality health care, many people are going without the medical treatments they need for lack of insurance. Between 2000 and 2007, employer-sponsored health insurance plans raised their premiums by about 73 percent, according to Business Week. As a result, many businesses have stopped offering health insurance plans. In 2007, just 63 percent of Americans had employer-sponsored insurance, notes the Business Week article.
Public Opinion
An ABC News and "Washington Post" poll revealed that Americans prefer universal health care over employer-based medical insurance by a two-to-one margin. However, that support for universal health care is conditional, and falls to less than half if switching to a universal health care system will result in a limited choice of doctors or long waiting lists for non-emergency visits.
History
The idea of universal health care isn't a new one. The United States is the only first-world nation that does not offer its citizens compulsory health care. That was the case back in December 1916 when Yale economist Irving Fisher made a speech about the need for universal health care, and it continues to be the case today, notes a "New Yorker" article. Despite the fact that legislators have taken up the issue periodically since that time, they've never universally embraced the idea.
Global View
In the discussion about universal health care in the United States, Canada often comes up as a peer country that has a universal health care system. Their program provides free health care, including basic preventive care and access to specialists, for everyone regardless of employment and income. However, people there commonly have to wait months to see a specialist or get nonemergency surgery, points out a "San Francisco Gate" article. Canada's model is often called the National Health Insurance model. This model uses tax money to pay for health care, but also uses private-sector providers.
Other countries provide different models for universal health care. For instance, Britain, Spain and New Zealand use the Beveridge Model, in which tax payments finance health care for all, and doctors are often government employees. Health care consumers never get a bill for health care services.
Change
Despite the United State's long history of putting off universal health care, some recent strides have been made. In spring of 2003, after more than a year of heated legislative debate and without a single Republican vote, President Barack Obama's health care reform bill passed in Congress. The bill does not establish universal health care but comes closer to it than the United States has ever been. For instance, it extends health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and imposes new taxes on high wage earners to pay for the program.
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