Universal Healthcare

Universal might sound like a good thing to a certain segment of society; however, there are working class individuals who are against universal healthcare for the United States. There is no perfect system of healthcare in the private sector, and there won't be a perfect system with universal health care either.

Canada has a universal healthcare plan, and though it isn't perfect, it serves the people who need it. The tax payers support the "free" healthcare that is so important to the people there in Canada. There are many universal healthcare cons. The most obvious con is that universal health care isn't free. Healthcare may be free to those who don't pay for their healthcare, but the taxpayers are footing the bills.

Other universal healthcare cons include shortages of doctors, shortages of equipment, and selective rationing of medical care. The universal healthcare system may deny expensive cancer treatments to patients that the system declares a waste of time. Doctors are often overworked because they have to take on so many patients in order to support their staff and make a living for themselves.

There may be some pros to having universal healthcare coverage. The people who are not insured in the United States amount to a staggering 46 million people. Out of this number of uninsured people, at least 10 percent of those people are illegal immigrants. Not only is out country offering healthcare to uninsured Americans, but the country will be taking care of the aliens also.

The cost of health insurance coverage is just not affordable to many people who work minimum wage and near minimum wage jobs. The argument over the universal healthcare pros and cons is likely to continue on through one or more generations of people. The war on healthcare used to be between the conservatives and the liberals. Now, even many of the liberals are not happy with the plan that is going to be set into motion.

It isn't just the affluent that oppose universal healthcare in America. There are many middle class income people who are against universal healthcare because the taxes are going to take a significant amount of their earnings away from them. Spreading the wealth to pay for universal healthcare only benefits those who are on the receiving end of this "forced" generosity. Raising taxes to pay for universal healthcare in the USA is tantamount to your next door neighbor receiving healthcare and you get the bill for it.

Who will be paying for the Universal healthcare insurance, in the long run? It will be your children and grandchildren. The United States will be so far in debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay back a huge debt that they didn't create. There is not only the debt to consider, but there is the elderly to consider.

The elderly have legitimate concerns about their health and wellbeing. There has been some mention of a death panel, and that certain individuals will have to undergo death counseling. A couple of countries have a system in place where people can be euthanized. Will that happen here in the United States? Will we have to choose whether to be euthanized or die from lack of treatment? This has been a deep concern, since there was mention of death counseling in the healthcare bill.

Many people from the countries with universal healthcare will say that the system is not perfect, but it is better than not having health insurance at all. Since the United States is one of the countries without universal healthcare, it can be fairly scary to think about a new system being started that will take money out of their budget. The money taken from them to pay for universal healthcare is equivalent to taking food off their dinner table.

Granted, the system we have now isn't perfect. There are people here in the USA who cannot afford healthcare coverage, and there are those who fall through the cracks of society. The people who fall through the cracks are those who make too much money to qualify for the Medicaid system already in place, but don't make enough to pay for an insurance premium. It is sad that there are so many people in America without adequate healthcare. Something does need to change in our healthcare system, but is universal healthcare the answer?