Universal healthcare is the arrangement that offers quality health and medical services to every citizen. Universal healthcare ensures that all the citizens have healthcare through the provision of certain packages that benefit all the members in the community that will help attain a monetary risk safety, enhanced access to health amenities and quality health care results. The universal health care system is funded by income taxes. However, universal healthcare does not mean that the people are covered for all healthcare needs, but most needs in terms of cost and services. The United Nations member countries agreed to work towards a global universal health coverage by the year 2030. The main goals of a universal healthcare system involve protection and provision of equal opportunities in the attainment of health care. Therefore, universal healthcare is beneficial to the provision of healthcare to the citizens.
Universal healthcare reduces medical costs. Notably, privatized medical costs are extremely inflated. When the government does not regulate the costs of healthcare, hospital feeds, and insurance premiums, the set costs in the healthcare sector become unbearable for the common citizens ( Moreno-Serra & Smith, 2012 ). Therefore, having a universal healthcare system that is regulated by the government would help reduce the costs in the healthcare sector through the reduction of the test, procedures and hospital stay bills as well as procedure bills. The reduction of costs means that many people will have the opportunity to access medical care.
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Universal healthcare systems can help cater for the uninsured people. For instance, in the United States, most people do not have insurance. As such, the uninsured people are less likely to afford prescriptions or fill out prescriptions. The uninsured people also have problems getting medical care for even serious conditions which can be detrimental to a person’s health ( Squires & Anderson, 2015 ). Additionally, uninsured people are less likely to have preventive healthcare and have a regular source of healthcare. Uninsured people often have delayed medical services that affect the timeline of diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. The suffering of the uninsured people can also result in physical, emotional and financial distress to themselves and to their families. Therefore, the universal healthcare will help the uninsured people access medical care.
Universal healthcare insulates people from the cost of healthcare. People who do not have healthcare are at a risk of financial ruin and poor health, which are disadvantageous to the society in general ( Moreno-Serra & Smith, 2012 ). Additionally, the lack of universal health is expensive despite arguments that state otherwise. A good example is the American healthcare system that spends twice as a much per capita on the provision of healthcare than other countries that have universal health. Notably, the American health sector suffers as many uninsured problems, less life expectancy and high infant mortality rates as well as poor performance in the quality of health provided ( Squires & Anderson, 2015 ). Evidently, other countries that have universal healthcare such as Canada, Germany, and Switzerland, have been successful in the provision of healthcare to their citizens. As such, the lack of universal healthcare can be detrimental to the nation’s citizenry in many ways.
Universal healthcare systems are important in extending medical care a for all citizens. When using universal healthcare, many citizens are able to access healthcare regardless of their social and financial status ( Moreno-Serra & Smith, 2012 ). Notably, countries that have universal healthcare depict results of longer lifespans, for example, in Canada the lifespan is three percent higher than in the United States.
Nevertheless, healthcare systems all over the world are faced with challenges such as costs and the problem of unavailability of medical care, that make it difficult to ensure universal health. While a universal health care system would be beneficial for many people, the level of regulation, centralization, and distribution of costs vary greatly in many countries. For instance, the healthcare in the United States is described as having a managed care system rather than having a universal healthcare system. The World Health Organization stated that among the industrialized countries, the United States lacks the universal healthcare coverage for its citizens ( Saito et.al. 2018). This revelation shows a problem as many people do not have insurance to go to their physician of choice. Many people are in the lower middle-class population, who make less money to even afford basic healthcare. The government has offered Medicare and Medicaid, which helps to people in the poverty level and the elderly but still leaves a huge population of people without access to healthcare.
In conclusion, universal healthcare is beneficial to the provision of healthcare to the citizens. Universal healthcare is the arrangement that offers quality health and medical services to every citizen. First, universal health care reduces medical costs through regulated costs of healthcare, hospital fees and insurance premiums, the set costs in the healthcare sector. Moreover, universal healthcare systems can help cater for the uninsured people. The uninsured people also have problems getting medical care for even serious conditions which can be detrimental to a person’s health. Therefore, with insurance, the uninsured people can access medical care. Universal healthcare insulates people from the cost of healthcare. People who do not have healthcare are at a risk of financial ruin and poor health, which are disadvantageous to the society in general. Universal healthcare systems are important in extending medical care a for all citizens regardless of their social and financial status. Nevertheless, healthcare systems all over the world are faced with challenges such as costs and the problem of unavailability of medical care, that make it difficult to ensure universal health.
References
Moreno-Serra, R., & Smith, P. C. (2012). Does progress towards universal health coverage improve population health?. The Lancet, 380(9845), 917-923.
Saito, H., Allegranzi, B., & Pittet, D. (2018). 2018 WHO hand hygiene campaign: preventing sepsis in health care and the path to universal health coverage. The Lancet Infectious Diseases , 18 (5), 490-492.
Squires, D., & Anderson, C. (2015). US health care from a global perspective: spending, use of services, prices, and health in 13 countries. The Commonwealth Fund , 15 , 1-16.
