Health Insurance Articles
Is Government Health Insurance the Answer?
2009-08-19
There are few things more important than having the ability to receive medical treatment for everything from the flu to a serious illness. An untreated illness at best could damage someone’s livelihood. At worst, it could cost a life. Under the health system in place in the United States, if you don’t have health insurance, forget getting proper medical care. Simple doctor visits can cost thousands, surgeries can cost tens of thousands, and long term care can quickly add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
Americans know they need health insurance coverage. Finding affordable health insurance is another issue. Some people get health insurance through their employers, but according to the National Coalition on Health Care, approximately one-third of the population spent at least part of 2007 – 2008 without any health coverage at all. Further, the vast majority of those without health insurance are employed – eight out of ten, in fact. Employer-based health insurance is an untenable solution, even for many working people.
Buying insurance privately is an option, but low cost health insurance is hard to find. Americans face a choice between several bad options. Consumers encounter a few realities when they request health insurance quotes. Health insurance with affordable monthly premiums comes with deductibles in the range of several thousands of dollars. To get an affordable deductible, the monthly premiums add up to hundreds of dollars. Given there is a link between minimum wage and low wage employment and lack of insurance, how is someone who makes very little supposed to be able to afford insurance that may cost more than their rent? Add a pre-existing condition into the mix, and even if consumers can find a way to afford health insurance, they may not be able to find a company willing to offer them coverage.
Anyone who doubts the impact this lack of health coverage for millions of Americans has on society can check World Health Organization statistics. For birth mortality rates, longevity, and other key indicators of health, the United States ranking is more in line with developing world nations than fellow developed nations that have nationalized systems of healthcare.
One possible solution to the problem is government funded health insurance. Although government funded health care must be funded by taxpayers, the lack of insurance is funded by taxpayers as well. People who are sick cannot work and need to rely on government programs, like welfare. In Sweden, a country with 100% nationalized health care and statistically one of the most successful healthcare systems in the world, citizens pay less in taxes for their healthcare system than the average American pays for insurance.
To be productive contributors to the economy, people have to be healthy. Government funded healthcare has worked in other countries and if correctly managed, it can work in America as well.
