Week 7 Discussion Post 20 Document

TheUnitedStatesspendssubstantiallymoreonhealthcarethanany

othernationintheworld,spendingmoremoneyonhealthcarefor

thoseovertheageof65thananyothernationspendsforitsentire

population.AlthoughtheUnitedStatesoffersthemostsophisticated

andadvancedtreatmentsthatexistinthehealthcareindustry,we

stillsufferfromworsehealthoutcomes,includinglowerlife

expectancy,higherinfantmortalityrate,andhigherobesitythan

othercountriessuchasAustralia,Canada,andtheUnitedKingdom

(Vladeck,2003).AlthoughPresidentObama’sAffordableCareAct

(ACA)movedtowardthedirectionofexpandingaccesstohealthcare

tomorepeopleandensuringthatinsurerscan’tdenycoverage

becauseofanapplicant’spreexistingconditions,itwascriticizedfor

itsflawsandPresidentTrumppushedtorepealit.Thequestion

remainsastowhyuniversalhealthcareinAmericaisn’tcurrently

beingconsidered,althoughMedicare,Medicaid,andCHIPdo

currentlyservetoprotectsomeofthenation’smostvulnerable

populations.

Onereasonthere’spushbackregardinguniversalhealthcare

coverageinAmericaistheuniquepoliticalculture.Americans,

especiallyconservatives,holdastrongbeliefinclassicalliberalism

andfeelthatthegovernmentshouldhavealimitedroleinsociety.

TheInternationalSocialSurveyProgramdiscoveredthatalower

percentageofAmericansbelievehealthcareisagovernment

responsibilitywhencomparedtoindividualsinotheradvanced

countries,suchasGermanyorSweden(Callaghan,2016).

Furthermore,interestgroupsthatinfluencepoliticalprocessesplaya

strongroleinuniversalhealthcareopposition.Forexample,in2009

thelegislativebattleovertheACAgenerated$1.2billioninlobbying.

Theinsuranceindustryalonespentover$100millionshapingthe

ACAandkeepingprivateinsurers(asopposedtothegovernment)as

themajorpowerholdersinAmericanhealthcare.Whendiscussions

regardinguniversalhealthcareareraised,theselobbyistsarequick

tomobilizetopreventimplementation.Additionally,America’s

politicalinstitutionsmakeitdifficultforentitlementprogramstobe

implemented.PolicyexpertshaveexplicitlysharedthattheU.S.

“doesn’thaveacomprehensivenationalhealthinsurancesystem

becauseAmericanpoliticalinstitutionsarestructurallybiasedagainst

thiskindofcomprehensivereform.”Anymajorattemptsat

comprehensivereformmustpassthroughcongressionalcommittees,

budgetestimates,conferencecommittees,amendments,anda

potentialvetowhileopponentsofreformpubliclyscrutinizethebill

(Callaghan,2016).Thismakesitextremelydifficultforanymajor

reformtosuccessfullypassthroughtheobstaclecourse.Lastly,

Americansareworriedthatuniversalhealthcarewillcreategreater

coststothemintheformoftaxes.ManyAmericansareagainstthe

ideaofhavingtopaymoreoutofpocketinanefforttokeepthe

entirepopulationprotected.SinceAmericansalreadyhavetopay

suchhighhealthcarecosts,thethoughtofhavingtopayevenhigher

costsisoutofthequestionforthem.

References:

Callaghan,T.(2016).3ReasonstheU.S.Doesn'tHaveUniversal

HealthCoverage.Retrievedfrom

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2016-10-

26/3-reasons-the-us-doesnt-have-universal-health-coverage.

Vladeck,B.(2003).UniversalHealthInsuranceintheUnitedStates:

ReflectionsonthePast,thePresent,andtheFuture.Retrievedfrom

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447684/.

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