Univesal Healthcare and America

Medical healthcare insurance has become one of the most controversial topics of today. Americans are faced with a problem that cannot easily be solved. Many people have different ideas of how we should effectively take care of this problem. Many have adopted the idea of a universal healthcare system. Comparisons between other countries such as Canada and France have driven this idea. It has been glamorized in documentaries such as Micheal Moore’s “Sicko” to show the contrast between the different systems. There are many factors though that have not been exposed or discussed.

Josie DiLena, a Dietician from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), acknowledges that there is a problem in the healthcare system but does not think a universal system would work. She has lived in Canada for a good part of her life and has witnessed both systems. She states “taxes were as high as 16-17% percent on every service, including funeral services, and products.” This has not been mentioned in a few of the documentaries shown on this subject and clearly shows that costs would be too high. She also bought up a few interesting factors that have not been mentioned in these pro universal healthcare programs. “The hospital suffers a major loss because it supplies healthcare to illegal immigrants and those who do not have health insurance. The hospital then gets a Charity Care credit which is reimbursement from the government, but it only pays a small percentage of its total loss. Now the burden lies on the staff’s wages to help with the burden.” I then asked her, what could be the reason why many Americans do not have health insurance? She answered,” Many people simply cannot afford it and many of their employers do not offer healthcare.” I found it interesting how an employer could not offer health insurance and tried finding reasons why that is so. I then asked Carly DiLena, a store manager for Pier 1 Imports, if they offered a healthcare plan for their employees. She answered, “Yes, but only full-time employees are fully covered; Part-time employees are only covered for 10,000 dollars”.

Josie and Carly are both full-time employees from different fields and they are fully covered for health insurance. Many of the people presented in the documentaries are freelance workers, private business owners, part-time workers, or unemployed. Both Josie and Carly say having private contracts between the government and the healthcare provider could be a solution help lower costs. The contract would offer a subsidized group rate and this would help make insurance more affordable.

With these new factors in play, a universal healthcare would not seem feasible in America. Although comparisons are constantly being made with other countries such as France and Canada, people have not taken into account the taxes and even the population differences. It is safe to say that this issue cannot be dissected into a black and white scenario when there are so many other factors involved.