Essay Tips- Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care

Universal Health Care

Universal health care is the broad term that encompasses any action that the government takes to provide health care to as many people as possible. Some governments do this by setting minimum standards and regulations and some by implementing programs that cover the entire population. But the ultimate goal is the health coverage for all citizens.

Universal health care is the system that provides quality medical services to all citizens. The federal government system offers it to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. The sheer cost of providing quality health care makes universal health care a large expense of government. Most universal health care is funded by general income taxes or payroll taxes.

The United States is one of the 33 developed countries that doesn’t have universal health care. But its health delivery system has specific components such as Medicare and Medicaid. That provides universal health care to several populations.

Types of Plans

There are three universal health care models. They are single-payer, mandatory insurance and national health insurance.

In order to introduce competition, countries frequently merge health care coverage with other schemes. Such alternatives can minimise costs, increase choices or enhance treatment with supplementary private insurance, residents can also opt for better programmes.

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Single-Payer Model

In the single-payer system, the government provides free health care paid for with revenue from income taxes. Services are government-owned, and service provider is government employees. Every citizen has the same access to health care.

When the government provides health care, they work to ensure doctors and hospitals provide quality care at a reasonable cost.

Social Health Insurance Model

Countries that use a social health insurance model requires everyone to buy insurance, usually through their employs. The taxes go into the government-run health insurance fund that covers everyone. Private Doctors and hospitals provide services. The government controls health insurance prices. It also has a lot of clouts to control private provider’s prices.

It is also similar in that it provides subsidies to health insurance companies for low-income enrollees.

National Health Care Insurance

The national health care insurance model uses public insurance to pay for private-practice care. Every citizen has paid into the national insurance plan. The administrative cost is lower because there is one insurance company. The government has a lot of leverage to force medical cost down.

Countries providing Universal Health Care

Australia

Australia health care gives everybody a choice to choose whether they want to seek care from public providers under Australis’s universal health care programme called medicare or seek private care, which they can pay for out of pocket or from the country’s private insurance system .

Netherland

The health care system in Netherland relies on a managed competition, which uses a combination of private, markets and government regulation to control health care costs and maintain health carequality.

The arrangement includes private insurers, independently working physicians and private nonprofit hospitals that also have to comply with stringent government regulations to ensure that care is affordable and low-cost.

Taiwan

In 1990, Taiwan moved to a single In 1990 Taiwan moved to a single-payer health care system operated by the government. Taiwanese residents hold a national health insurance card under the Taiwanese health care system that allows clinicians to view a patient’s medical records on a computers chip reader.

U.K.

The U.K. health system provides health care through a single-payer model that is both funded and run by the federal government.

U.S.

The U.S. operates primarily on the system of private health care, which is supplemented plans such a Medicare Medicaid that are administered by the federal government. Many individual states provide their own variants on government health care. For instance, Medical is California’s state implementations of Medicaid.

Despite a variety of available programs, the united state doesn’t have universal coverage. While the affordable care act vastly expanded the number of Americans with coverage, it is not a universal health care system.

Canada

Canada has a national health care insurance system. The government pays of service provides by a private delivery system. Private supplemental insurance pays for vision, dental care and prescription drugs.

Pros of Universal Health Care

Health Care Cost

The government controls prices through negotiation and regulation.

Administrative Cost

Doctors only deal with one government agency. For Example, U.S. doctors spend four times as much as Canadians dealing with insurance companies.

Standard of Service

It forces hospitals and physicians to deliver low-cost treatment at the same level. Health care providers must also rely on profit in a competitive setting like the United States. By offering the latest technologies, they do this. They deliver costly treatment and compensate extra for physicians. By targeting the rich, they aim to compete and compensate extra for physicians.  

Equality

Universal health care equalizes services with no doctors and hospitals being able to target and cater to wealthier clients. The means everyone gets the same level of care which ultimately leads to a healthier workforce.

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Cons of Universal Health Care

Long Wait

In some countries with universal health care patients see long wait time or even have to wait months to be seen at all. Governments focus on providing essential and lifesaving healthcare and may neglect to cover rare diseases or elective procedures.

Expensive

Universal health care is expensive. If the government is struggling with its budget. It may find that health care is taking money away from other essential programs. The chronic disease makes up 90% of health care costs. The sickest 5% of population create 50% of health care cost.

Overwhelm Government Budget

Health care cost overwhelms government budget. For Example, some Canadians provinces spend their 40% of the budget on health care.

Limit Services

The government may limit those services with a low probability of success. This includes drugs for rare condition and expensive end of life care. In the United States care of patients in the last six years of life makes up one-fourth of Medicare budget.

Conclusion

Above mentioned ideas will tell you about the pros and cons of universal health care.

This blog post will help you to know the importance of health care in developed countries and their working on health care.