Our nation is a staunchly capitalistic democracy, and it therefore fears nationalized healthcare. Nationalized healthcare is a system in which the government plays the role of our current health insurance companies and “Covers” all of its citizens. The system is working in first-world nations like Great Britain, France, and Canada, providing virtually all of their citizens with inexpensive healthcare. According to the National Coalition on Healthcare, fifty percent of all bankruptcy findings were partly resulting from medical expenses, and every thirty seconds someone in the US files for bankruptcy after a serious health problem.
The simple solution for the financial medical burden placed on the American populace is to switch to a nationalized healthcare system. According to the NHC, “The United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens.” The NY times published an article that said that, “Viewed strictly in terms of dollars and cents, the government already accounts for more than half of the nation’s health care spending.” Why not raise taxes and remove our need to pay our rising premiums to insurance companies. Since our government is by the people and for the people, shouldn’t it decide our premiums rather than a health insurance company that uses our money for profit? Even hospitals support nationalized healthcare because they would never be forced to treat an uninsured person. The government would insure everyone.
Another perk from a nationalized healthcare plan is the price reduction of prescription drugs. As you can see from the chart, drug costs are much higher for the average American than they are for an average Frenchman under his nationalized healthcare plan. Under such a plan, elderly Americans would easily be able to afford their now expensive medications.
The argument against nationalized healthcare is that it reduces our much-loved healthcare “Choices.” Unless you’re willing to pay extra, you lose the ability to handpick your doctors, and therefore lose a lot of control over your own healthcare. Another problem with a nationalized plan is that people are forced to wait longer for preventative healthcare. If you have a heart attack, you will be treated quickly at a small financial cost, but if you need a non-emergency surgery, you could be on the waiting list for months.
Of course, if you can afford good health insurance and also can afford to pay some of your own medical bill, the actual healthcare offered in the United States is superb. We are a technologically advanced country, and our medical facilities reflect that claim. According to CNNMoney, patient survival rates in the United States are increasing, while at the same time hospitals are treating sicker patients. Basically, they are improving upon their old statistics with patients who are harder to treat.
The major problem we face regarding our hospitals is a nationwide nursing shortage. Nursing school graduate numbers are declining, and hospitals cannot run without a qualified nursing staff. To fix this problem, hospitals can give better job incentives for nurses (pay, benefits, vacation…). This would, of course, make hospitals more expensive to run, and we, the patients, would take the brunt of the cost.
As far as national healthcare is concerned, most of the changes necessary will need to be spearheaded by the federal government. There are certain things in our communities we can do to help improve the nation’s healthcare statistics. Small health clinics exist in cities all over the United States that cater to the poor and downtrodden who lack the financial backing to afford medical insurance. These centers rely on donations and government aid, and they offer the nation’s lower class cheap healthcare. Donating money to these organizations is a great way to toss your hat into the healthcare-improvement ring.
These community organizations are, however, running into problems. According to USA Today, the rising demand for their services is putting a large strain on their resources. From homeless people wandering in acquire get free prescription drugs, to the unfortunate, out-of-luck unemployed, these understaffed centers are so swamped with patients that they often, “Beg specialists to take on patients.” Volunteering ones time to work at one of these centers is another way to become directly involved in improving the nation’s healthcare.
Another possibility is to simply volunteer your time at organizations like the Red Cross. The Red Cross, for example, runs programs where volunteers escort elderly citizens to their various appointments. This reduces a senior’s total cost for an appointment because they won’t need to pay for transportation.
All in all, we are a country founded on the people’s voice. If we want our nation’s healthcare system to improve, we have to shout it at the top of our lungs. If enough Americans call for a nationwide healthcare system, the government will have to listen. For SAK, it all starts with a blog…
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/09/whats-wrong-wit.html
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http://www.redcross.org/services/volunteer/0,1082,0_423_,00.html
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http://www.deionassociates.com/comment/valium.gif
http://www.osc.state.ct.us/reports/health/hcrpt2/images/hcr2ch19.gif
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