For decades, healthcare has been one of the most divisive as well as economically pressing issues in the United States. Most of the US citizens are dissatisfied with the nation’s largely for-profit health-care system. The current system is unaffordable for many U.S citizen and is fundamentally flawed. It also presents challenges to physicians as they undergo frustration experiences placed upon them by insurance agencies. This is because the insurance companies dictate to them treatment plans instead of clinical judgment or medical best practices. Primarily, the current health care system is criticized for its inefficiency, inaccessibility, and ever-rising costs. Since the incentive structure of the current health care system is not working, I favor a Single-Payer system. In this paper, I will provide reasons why I favour Single-Payer health care system, also known as Medicare for All.
In Single-Payer systems, one organization-mostly the government, purchases health care services for the entire population. The government collects and pools revenues to achieve this. In this system, facilities used to deliver health care, such as hospitals, physicians, and nurses remain in private hands, and the patients are guaranteed to receive care from the providers. The system is cost-effective and efficient as it covers the entire population of the United States equally regardless of age, employment, income, or diagnosis.
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Medical coverage organizations are by-and-large for-profit. Insurance agencies are not lean operations, and they have increased inefficiency in the U.S health care system as well as deprioritize health care outcomes. By switching to single payer system, the U.S will save billions of dollars annually by eliminating overhead costs as well as reducing paperwork and billing expenses for hospitals, physicians and other health care providers (Woolhandler & Himmelstein, 2017).
For most health metrics, the U.S consistently ranks near the bottom when compared to other developed nations. A for-profit health care system will certainly not result in the type of competence and equitable distribution of health care resources we expect to have. Majority of the United States population are uninsured. Additionally, the mortality rate is high. This leads to too much spending on health care. Currently, the United States is spending more on health care as compared to other nations in the world. This makes America the most bureaucratic health care system in the world. Thus, the Single-Payer system ought to be introduced because it aims at more coverage, better benefits, and lower costs. The health care system has worked in many countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Australia. Since these countries have positive outcomes, it is with no doubt that this system will also work for America.
When the Single-Payer health care system is established in the United States, it will provide a stimulus for the U.S economy. According to the Institute for Health and Socio-economic Policy (IHSP), the Single-Payer system will create approximately 2.6 million jobs as well as infuse $317 billion in new business and public revenues (2009). This shows how efficient and effective the system will be once established.
The case in favor of a Single-Payer health care system is strong. Single payer health care will guarantee better coverage, provide free of choice hospitals and providers in America, reduce waste and costs, cover palliative care, mental health, vision, dental, and preventive care, and also allow public oversight to make sure that the system operates efficiently and effectively by providing coverage as well as uniform benefits for all. In short, a Single-Payer health care program would be a success in the United States as well as be a win/win program for the government, taxpayers, and patients. Reforming the health care system to a single payer system will be the right civil and economic thing to do.
References
Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy. (2009). Single Payer/Medicare for All: An Economic Stimulus Plan for the Nation. [Online]. Available at: https://nurses.3cdn.net/c6fb9a313be501086e_1vm6y1duy.pdf . Accessed 7 th Feb 2019.
Woolhandler, S., & Himmelstein, D. (2017). Single-Payer Reform: The Only Way to Fulfill the President’s Pledge of More Coverage, Better Benefits, and Lower Costs. [Online]. Available at: https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2605414/single-payer-reform-only-way-fulfill-president-s-pledge-more . Accessed 7 th Feb 2019.
