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.
a a 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/.
