Universal health insurance: What is the moral price tag?

摘要

The concept of universal healthcare is perceived as a panacea by many. Most of the industrialized world has recognized universal healthcare as desirable. Universal health insurance seems to be appealing as a remedy to an ailing system. Skyrocketing medical costs and serious inequities in the distribution of services have become glaringly apparent in the United States; Failure to find a resolution to the economic implications may threaten the fiscal well being of the nation. The high number of uninsured contributes to escalating healthcare costs because those that are uninsured do not seek primary care and utilize more expensive routes of care such as the emergency room when they become ill. The Medicaid and Medicare systems are on the verge of bankruptcy. A single payer system may not be the ideal way of improving the current healthcare dilemmas of the United States. From a moral perspective, a single payer system of healthcare will not assure entitlement of basic rights nor provide for greater justice or beneficence to any greater extent than the current capitalistic system. The majority of Americans are not likely to willingly trade the relatively good health benefits that they enjoy currently for the bureaucracy, restrictions, and potentially hazardous attributes of government run healthcare. We certainly do not need to trade what we currently have for a system that might cost more than a trillion dollars while at the same time providing more limitations on treatment options. The problem can be solved by using the funds that are already allocated but in a more efficient manner. There needs to be shared responsibility for healthcare costs between government, employers, and consumers. The current tax framework needs to be reconfigured. Medicaid and Medicare demonstrate further evidence that government regulation in healthcare should be reduced, not expanded. Reforming Medicare however, is an obstacle that it is politically unpopular. American values of freedom, autonomy, and liberty must remain intact as healthcare reform evolves.