why should the united states establish a universal health care system?
953515
there is over 40 millions reason why
720719
Free market in health care is just like a free market in anything else.  It just means that the people decide who to buy their services from, and the government doesn't get involved.  \n\nA lot of people think that would be impossible, because health care is now so expensive.  What most people don't understand is that health care is so expensive BECAUSE it is government subsidized.  Any time a product or service gets government subsidies, the prices go through the roof.  In a free market, people would pay for the services they need, or find a charity to help pay, or buy insurance to cover it.  As a result, there would be a lot less careless spending, like using emergency room services to treat a common cold.  No one that pays their own expenses would ever consider throwing money away like that, but under medicare/medicaid, it is a regular occurance.  All those millions wasted on this kind of systematic abuse would be saved for more significant medical care.\n\nThe free market doesn't guarantee everyone a perfect life, but it's always better than the alternatives.
209202
Greed, pure and simple. Most major drug companies are located here in the US and are major political contributers. The countries you mentioned all have government health care. The US government fought tooth-and-nail against allowing US citizens to buy drugs from Canada because that would hurt drug companies profits and, in the long run, political contributions.\n\nCongress will never vote for universal health coverage because it hurts their bottom line. It's just as well. Beatle drummer Ringo Starr once commented that “Everything the government touches turns to crap.”
422444
A national heath care system like every other industrialized country in the world has.
168711
eliminate fraud and waste. instead of shipping billions to Irag, start spending it on our health care system.
823629
What would you like to do.  Do we need to turn ALL medical services over to the government?  Set everything at standardized prices, just like an oil change on your car, and take away the options of which doctor you go to, and what therapies you want used on your illnesses?  Medicine BECAME expensive with the advent of Medicare and health insurance. My mother in law was a nurse for 30 years, and she can tell you exactly when medical services went up.  It came about with the proliferation of medical insurance companies, and the liberal minded society that rewards people (and their attorneys) for being victims of "medical malpractice".  Oh, and if we centralize medical and health care within the government, you will not be able to go back if you do get stuck with a shitty doctor who completely fucks you up and sue them.
879931
that's the plan with education... break it down, say it has to be privatized to work... \n\nthen you get a fantastic system like the current health care system where only hundreds of thousands won't recieve an education... and those will basically become the slave laborers... low, low pay for maximized profit... basically an end to the middle class...\n\nof course, that will set up the prime ingredients for a revolution...
885942
I totally agree with you. We really need to change our health and how we take care of ourselves as Americans.
923899
All these answers are biased to the US approach to health care. If you really want to argue the two sides of this question, you are going to have to do so on the merits of whether the government should provide health care as a "social good" that all citizens deserve, or whether the individual is solely responsible for health care, and "deserves" not to get it if they can't afford it.\n\nPersonally, I would argue that the Government should provide some level of health insurance as a basic "common good". Otherwise, there is a significant bias against the poor, who are often also the ones who cannot afford / do not have employers who provide health care insurance. Also, a group payer (like the government) can have much more influence on how health care is delivered and what the costs will be. Individual payers (like HMOs, for instance) can influence only within a small subsection of the overall country -- and, as has been attested to by many, often influence negatively in terms of treatment options and so on. A broader based payer can also influence a broader base, and can bring some fairness to how treatment options are applied. \n\nHowever, the government is not responsible for every whim of the individual. I don't think the government should pay for all kinds of care, nor do I think that the government has to treat individuals as unable to manage their own health decisions, by regulating alternative health care and the like. So, I think that it should be a combination of individual responsibility with government responsibility, with as much individual choice and as little regulation as possible.
71543
Someone aside from Bush because he's a complete moron- needs to seriously attack the issue of health care.  Health care is a necessity.  You need to have health insurance no matter if your employed or not.  But it needs to be affordable health care.
47373
To me it looks like it took the work and foresight of two Presidents.  Truman got the ball originally rolling, but was unable to get the legislative support behind it.  However, Johnso came along 20 years later, breathing new life into the idea and was able to get it passed as part of a plan for the greater good of society in his.\n\n\n1945            Harry Truman sends a message to Congress asking for legislation establishing a national health insurance plan.  Two decades of debate ensue, with opponents warning of the dangers of "socialized medicine."\n\nBy the end of Truman's administration, he had backed off\nfrom a plan for universal coverage, but administrators in\nthe Social Security system and others had begun to focus\non the idea of a program aimed at insuring Social Security\nbeneficiaries.\n\nJuly 30, 1965   Medicare and its companion program Medicaid,            (which insures indigent recipients), are signed into law by\nPresident Lyndon Johnson as part of his "Great Society."
569828
The insurance company's lobby the politicians so that they will not go to socialized medicine, it would be a loss of billions of dollars to them, they would have to find a different racket, no pun intended as I do feel insurance company's are legal organized crime. Health care has soared in recent years and they are the main reason why. All you have to do is look north to see how well health care works without insurance company's.
181247
All US citizens can get healthcare whether they have health insurance or not.  What many people don't have is insurance to cover a major medical occurance, despite this fact, people that have major illnesses and no insurance, still get medical care.  They will just pay for it the rest of their lives.\n\nThe US is a capitalist society.  Doctors want to make money just like everyone else.  The US also has the best medical facilities in the world.  In other words, money gets you the best.  If the US were to go with a national healthcare plan, chances are the best would turn into second best.  Doctors would become discouraged and become a lawyer instead, what we don't need are more lawyers.
1169776
Healthcare is in demand everywhere.
453716
The Canadian Health System is based upon the same system that exists in Britan or Sweden. Only the US does not have this type of system
929580
personnally it is the aim to amount wealth at the expense of everything else, ie use the army to amass policital control in another country then pay american companies to work there the companies of course are mass benefactors to the republican party.  \n\nOffer no government health care to your people so the poor die.  As a brit it amazes me that the richest country in the world cannot afford to pay healthcare for their poorest people.  Your government really scares me.
739165
In Canada, there is universal health care, which means, regardless of your income, as long as you are a citizen, you are entitled to treatment from a doctor anywhere in Canada.  The provinces provide the support structure for the medical system which is jointly paid for by the federal and provincial governments.  It also extends beyond Canada's borders depending on the circumstances.  This comes from the sustained Canadian belief that to profit from people's suffering is wrong.\nUnfortunately,  the poor tend to suffer more illness than the rich.  So the more poor you have the more expensive the universal health care system.  By establishing an income standard, such as universal healthcare,  the poor are entitled to the same treatment as the rich.  This eliminates a disparagement of income and ensures the general health of the entire Canadian population.