National health insurance and single-payer health
systems are very complex and complicated things to many people. A single-payer healthcare system involves the
government paying for medical costs instead of private insurance
companies. The government would collect
all medical fees and then pay for the services through one government
source. In many nations, this type of
insurance is given to all citizens and residents. The term “single payer” refers only to the
single financing of the insurance, but not delivery. The delivery of healthcare would remain in
private hands. The medical services
included in a single-payer system are doctor, hospital, long-term care, mental
health, dental, vision, preventive, prescription drugs, and medical
supplies. Several countries that use a
single-payer system are Australia, Canada, Spain, Taiwan, and the United
Kingdom. Many of these countries report positive
reviews to the way the system is run and deals with medical problems.
So what is the difference between a single-payer
health system and the United States healthcare system? The United States uses private insurance
companies, Obamacare, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, makes it a goal to
expand coverage to American people by requiring them to buy insurance policies
through a number of private companies.
The policies are partially subsidized by government payments to the
private insurers. Obamacare also aims to
expand Medicaid benefits to more people.
However, there are still flaws to this system. Millions of people still remain uninsured,
and many can be under insured. Another
problem involves the private insurers and their decisions to strip policies,
limit care, increase co-pays, and increase other costs. Many people see Obamacare as steps towards a
more nationalized health care system.
The United States and Mexico are the two main nations that do not have a
nationalized health care system.
A debate over establishing a single-payer healthcare
system has been going on for over 10 years.
Large groups of people love the idea, but also, large groups of people
hate the idea. Every year since 2002,
John Conyers, a democratic U.S. Representative for Michigan, proposes the
United States National Health Care Act in the House of Representatives. This act would establish a single-payer
system in the United States, equal to Canada’s or the United Kingdom’s. In 2009, during a series of health care
debates, this act was expected to be debated and voted upon, but it never
was. In addition to the proposals in
congress, many states have attempted to pass single-payer state bills; however,
all have been shot down.
In terms of adopting a single-payer healthcare system,
there are both pros and cons. The most
obvious benefit of a nationalized system is that every citizen of the country
can and will receive health care. Every
person can receive the insurance that they need no matter what physical or economic
state they are in. According to the
Physicians for a National Health Program, adopting a nationalized healthcare
system would immediately save the country $350 billion. To many, the savings from $350-570 billion is
enough to adopt the system. On the other
side of the spectrum, switching to this system would cost hundreds of thousands
of jobs, which according to many, is a big enough reason to not approve the switch. With a single-payer system, private health
insurance companies would mostly be nonexistent, which means that all of the
workers for those companies will be without a job. Another negative side of the argument is the
longer waiting period that will occur.
If every person is able to receive the same healthcare, anyone can go to
the hospital or doctor’s office without worrying about insurance costs. Wait times for normal hospital visits can
triple. There are many supporting
details to each argument, so the debate over a single-payer system has been
going on for years and seems to be running in circles.
Sources:
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Jan. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-payer_healthcare>
"What Is Single Payer?" What Is Single Payer? Web. 14 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer>
"Apecsec.org." Apecsecorg. Web. 14 Jan. 2016. <http://apecsec.org/single-payer-system-health-care-pros-and-cons/>
"List of Pros and Cons of Single Payer Health Care." OccupyTheory. 2 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2016. <http://occupytheory.org/list-of-pros-and-cons-of-single-payer-health-care/>
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