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Addison Durboraw

Mrs. Litle

ENG 121001

27 March 2022

Why We Should Care About Universal Health Care

Should we have a universal health care system in the United States? This is a question

that is largely debated in the United States. In my opinion, we absolutely should have a system

that is based, at the very least, on a universal health care system. A system that provides

everyone in the United States with health care regardless of their socioeconomic status. Our

current system actively discriminates against minority groups and those in poverty. It also has

given corporations free rein over health care in the United States. Corporations have essentially

absorbed the entirety of the health care system in the United States and they treat patients and

caregivers as if they are nothing more than commodities. These are Commodities that they

couldn't care less about unless they are no longer making money for their respective corporation.

It is in this system that we have individuals that cannot afford insurance and are forced to either

go without or seek subpar care with partial coverage utilizing Obamacare if they even qualify.

Established as a part of the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare is the only move towards a

more equitable system that provides health care to all individuals including those who are in the

bottom socioeconomic statuses. While this is an amazing step in the right direction it falls short

of providing comprehensive health care to all American citizens. The United Nations, thanks to

the United States ironically, has a treaty known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

which declares, among others, health care to be a right. The United States, however, to this day
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has yet to achieve said goal despite being the ones to come up with the declaration. Instead,

politicians are corrupted by the multi-billion-dollar healthcare corporations to lobby in favor of

legislation that furthers the corporation's profits.

I have chosen three separate sources to highlight varying perspectives of why we should

have universal health care. These points being healthcare is a right, our current system is

insanely overpriced, and the feasibility of universal healthcare in the United States. These

varying perspectives on the matter show just how much we need healthcare reform in the United

States. Healthcare being a right shows us that we are being deprived of a basic human necessity.

Overpriced medical services bring to light the failings of our current system run by multibillion-

dollar healthcare corporations. Lastly, the feasibility of a system that incorporates universal

health care shows us that it is possible to change our current system we just have to work

towards doing so.

Arno, P. S., & Caper, P. (2020, March 25). Medicare for all: The social transformation of US

health care: Health affairs forefront. Health Affairs. Retrieved March 16, 2022, from

https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20200319.920962/full/

This article was written by Peter S. Arno and Philip Caper for the website

Healthaffairs.org. The article informs the reader that corporations are the reason why medical

treatment is so expensive. The focus on business rather than health care has led to struggles with

patients and caregivers. Almost half of adults in the U.S. aged nineteen to sixty-four were

inadequately insured in 2019 (Arno, Caper). Compared to other countries the United States is at

the bottom of the list when it comes to infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and mortality

prevention (Arno, Caper). While half of Americans are struggling to even receive comprehensive
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medical treatment corporations are making millions of dollars. Not only are they making millions

of dollars off medical treatments but the price for many treatments is twice that of people in

other developed countries. The mistaken belief that studying our health care market and

perfecting it will solve our healthcare issues is what is holding the United States back from

making moves towards universal healthcare. I honestly don't understand why more Americans

are not outraged at this information. Corporations have consumed the healthcare industry so

entirely that we pay twice the price for diminishing care. Our government allows a system that is

exploiting its own citizens in order to make outrageous sums of money. The politics behind

healthcare are why nothing is getting done as far as any sort of move towards a more humane

and efficient system. Until enough support is gathered to progress the universal health care cause

we are stuck with the inefficient discriminatory system that we have. I will use this information

to prove that the price we pay for medical treatments is outrageous. That corporations absorbing

the entirety of the healthcare system and exploiting it for profit is what has led us to the failing

system we currently have.

Gerisch, M. (2018, November 19). Health Care As a Human Right. Americanbar.org. Retrieved

March 16, 2022, from

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/

the-state-of-healthcare-in-the-united-states/health-care-as-a-human-right/

This piece was written by Mary Gerisch for the American Bar Association’s website. The

purpose of this article is to argue that health care is a right, not a privilege. The right to health

care is internationally recognized largely because of the United States. Elanor Rosevelt took her

husband's work on universal health care to the United Nations who soon after came to recognize

health care as a basic human right (Gerisch). A treaty was created and ratified by all the countries
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in the UN besides three the United States is one of them. Thus far the United States has made

little movement in the way of providing universal health care. The Affordable Care Act which

provides some medical coverage is the most the United States has done in the way of moving

towards a system that would provide universal care. The U.S. has created a system in which

corporations make huge profits on health care as a commodity while people are dying. We as a

people should demand health care to be considered a right, not a commodity for corporations to

get rich off of. Not only is this system financially exploiting its citizens it is actively

discriminating against the minority groups and all those in poverty as well. The U.S. needs to be

held to account for its obligation to the United Nations’ treaty which declares health care to be a

right. The United States should finish what it has started and work towards a system that will

universally provide care for everyone. I intend to use this ideal, that health care is a right, to

show that we are being deprived of a basic human right in a first-world country.

Zieff, G., Kerr, Z. Y., Moore, J. B., & Stoner, L. (2020, October 30). Universal Healthcare in

the United States of America: A healthy debate. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). Retrieved

March 17, 2022, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7692272/#:~:text=Universal

%20healthcare%20in%20the%20U.S.%2C%20which%20may%20or%20may

%20not,economic%20costs%20associated%20with%20said

This article was written by Gabriel Zieff, Zachery Y. Kerr, Justin B. Moore, and Lee

Stoner for the PMC website. Its purpose is to debate the feasibility of establishing a universal

health care system in the United States. Universal health care would bring an end to exclusive

systems that provide inequitable access to health care. It would also help to reduce the massive

difference in the quality of health care provided to different socio-economic statuses (Zieff). Not
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only would it increase the quality of care but also increase the possibility of preventing many

health care issues before they even become serious. We are currently experiencing an epidemic

level of non-communicable chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and

obesity (Zieff). All of these non-communicable chronic diseases drain the national economy.

Loss of production due to obesity is estimated to amount to 66 billion dollars annually (Zieff). If

universal health care were to be put into place it would lead to an increase in the prevention of

these non-communicable chronic diseases improving the overall health of the United States. To

me, it seems like switching to a system of universal health care would not only save lives but

money as well. Through realizing how much can be saved through a transition to universal health

care it should be obvious that we need to transition to a system of universal health care. I intend

on using this information to show that providing less healthcare to those in lower socioeconomic

statuses causes a drain on the healthcare system. Preventable diseases and disorders are running

rampant in our society, especially in the lower socioeconomic statuses.

Works cited:
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Arno, P. S., & Caper, P. (2020, March 25). Medicare for all: The social transformation

of US health care: Health affairs forefront. Health Affairs. Retrieved March 16,

2022, from

https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20200319.920962/full/

Gerisch, M. (2018, November 19). Health Care As a Human Right. Americanbar.org.

Retrieved March 16, 2022, from

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_h

ome/the-state-of-healthcare-in-the-united-states/health-care-as-a-human-right/

Zieff, G., Kerr, Z. Y., Moore, J. B., & Stoner, L. (2020, October 30). Universal

Healthcare in the United States of America: A healthy debate. Medicina (Kaunas,

Lithuania). Retrieved March 17, 2022, from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7692272/#:~:text=Universal

%20healthcare%20in%20the%20U.S.%2C%20which%20may%20or%20may

%20not,economic%20costs%20associated%20with%20said