Riley Andrews

Professor Kretzer

Literature Review

10/17/21

Should there be universal healthcare?

Healthcare is a huge current matter that many have different opinions on. Should there be

universal healthcare? What does universal healthcare actually mean? As we see so many times

today, politicians leverage the idea of “universal healthcare” to gain support from the masses.

Universal healthcare seems great in theory, but in the end all it leads to is increased taxes on the

poor, less doctors, increased waiting times at the hospital, significantly worse service, and the list

goes on.

The U.S. healthcare system is flawed, no one is disagreeing with that, but when the topic

of universal healthcare comes into question, is this the right answer? I feel like there is a lot of

misconception when people think about universal healthcare because many think this means it is

100% which it is not. There needs to be major reform in the healthcare industry. With that being

said, universal healthcare is not the answer. As we see in countries like Germany and

Switzerland, they utilize both public and private insurance making healthcare more affordable

for its citizens. We need to focus on utilizing both private and public insurance and we need the

government to regulate the drug manufactures who are charging extreme premiums on

medication.

So how does the healthcare system in the U.S. work? There is private and public

insurance. In 2018, about 55.1% of Americans receive health insurance through their employers
(Supanick, Michael). Medicare provides health insurance for people 65 and older where they are

able to add additional coverages through private insurers as they want. You have Part A,B,C, and

D Medicare coverage. Depending on your income you will incur income-based premiums based

on your plan. Plan A is no cost, but the other levels have extra costs. There is also Medicare

Advantage, these plans are directly contracted with the Federal Government and people who

utilize MA can only go to doctors within the plans network, Medicare is accepted by all doctors.

Medicare allows those the option to utilize private insurance if they don’t want to go through the

public healthcare system. There is also Medicaid for lower income individuals and military

veterans use the VA. About 17.9% of the country received Medicaid in 2018 (Supanick,

Michael).

The American healthcare system is a business. To truly put this into perspective, an

article on Vox stated, “If the health-care system were to break off from the United States and

become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. "It would be bigger than the

United Kingdom or France and only behind the United States, China, Japan, and Germany," says

David Blumenthal, executive director of the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund” (Kliff, Sarah).

Insurance companies see us as dollar bills and have no conscious on what prices they are

charging. Why is the government in the U.S. not regulating drug prices from these monopolistic

drug manufacturers who do whatever they please? Why are there no price ceilings on these

drugs?

This is where the question of socialized medicine comes into play. Let’s look at Canadas

universal healthcare. Everyone loves to bring up how Canada has universal healthcare and how

great it is. Here are the facts. Canadians actually pay similar out of pocket costs to what

Americans pay due to increased government taxes for “free healthcare”. With these tax increases
the government also has a healthcare budget. Now when we look at the budget there is only so

much to go around for equipment and supplies, nurses, doctors, etc. The problem becomes a

supply issue because they cannot keep up with the demand. When supply is less than demand,

what do we see? We see shortages in doctors, equipment, increased waiting times, significantly

worse service, etc. “Many Canadians are no longer confident that the provinces will be able to

afford their current systems. As a result of unprecedented federal deficits, the Canadian

government has reduced substantially its cash transfers to the provinces. Growing complaints

about long lines for diagnosis and surgery, as well as widespread “line – jumping” by the

affluent and connected, are eroding public confidence in Canada’s national health care system”

(Ridic, Goran). Canadas universal healthcare system is a joke and does not work.

A key takeaway that I found in this article from the Heritage Foundation was “Every

American should have access to low-cost, high-quality health care. The Canadian experience

demonstrates that government-run healthcare is not the answer. Canadians pay up to 51 percent

more in taxes, yet out-of-pocket health costs are close to Americans’, even though Canada covers

only marginally more than the U.S. Government rationing has left Canadians with months-long

waiting lists for urgent care, endemic staff shortages, substandard equipment, and outdated

drugs.” (Onge, Peter St.). When thinking about universal healthcare think about the DMV. The

DMV, everyone can agree is a nightmare. What makes it a nightmare you may ask, it’s a

government paid program. Public programs tend to be understaffed and they can’t keep up with

the demand of services. This is exactly what will happen if the U.S. were to implement universal

healthcare. We see that Canadas universal healthcare is not the answer. Now we have to think

about the population in Canada. Canada has roughly 31 million citizens and the U.S. has about

330 million. If universal healthcare does not work in a population with significantly less people
how would this possibly work in the U.S., its simple it wouldn’t work. Also, when the

government offers free healthcare people will go to the doctor more, in turn using more

resources. These resources eventually run out and the supply will not be able to keep up with the

demand.

Works Cited

Durante, Alex. “Build Back Better Act: Details & Analysis.” Tax Foundation, 16 Nov. 2021,
taxfoundation.org/build-back-better-plan-reconciliation-bill-tax/. 
Kliff, Sarah. “8 Facts That Explain What's Wrong with American Health Care.” Vox, Vox, 2
Sept. 2014, www.vox.com/2014/9/2/6089693/health-care-facts-whats-wrong-american-
insurance. 

Onge, Peter St. “How Socialized Medicine Hurts Canadians and Leaves Them Worse off
Financially.” The Heritage Foundation, 20 Feb. 2020, www.heritage.org/health-care-
reform/report/how-socialized-medicine-hurts-canadians-and-leaves-them-worse-
financially. 

Reed, Jay. “Why Insulin Is so Expensive.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 23 Sept. 2020,
www.businessinsider.com/insulin-lifesaving-prescription-drug-so-expensive-pharma-
industry-2019-1. 

Ridic, Goran. “Comparisons of health care systems in the United States, Germany and
Canada.” Materia socio-medica vol. 24,2 (2012): 112-20. doi:10.5455/msm.2012.24.112-
120

Supanick, Michael. “Private Insurance and Universal Healthcare: How Can Private Insurance Be
Utilized within a Universal Healthcare System in the United States?” Southern California
Interdisciplinary Law Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, Winter 2021, pp. 551–585. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=152785763&site=eds-live.