Amount worth $2. 2 trillion is injected in the public and community health sector per year in the United States of America. This amount includes the hospital expenses, payments to medical personnel in all state hospitals and in the running of all the health departments and the ministry. As a result there is a false belief that America has the best health policy in the world putting the health policy makers in a state of self deceit. However, the truth is that though the medical care administered in the hospitals is excellent the system for financing the health care is not up to the standards and need revision.
The Rube Goldberg system needs a full replacement by a system mindful of the current situation in the health sectors. With a whooping 16% of the GNP spent of the health care and still more than 46million American citizens without health insurances the current system leaves a lot to be desired. Other nations in the same league like Japan only uses 8-11% of their GNP and leave their citizens enjoying excellent health care attention. The evidence is in life expectancy. Being the wealthiest nation we expect that the life expectancy to be the highest but life expectancy in America are lower than those of other not-so-wealthy countries.
In fact Cuba has a lower infant mortality than the United States of America. Another amazing fact is the expenditure on health per person. According to the Hacker (2007), an ordinary American spends more on health than on housing and foods combined. Meanwhile health costs including health insurance costs have gradually continued to swell thus endangering family finances as well as the national economy. This trend is being felt by all and sundry, the low income earners as well as the high income earners; the sick and the would-be sick.
Coupled with unstable incomes, health insecurity has become a reality in America. As a result of these incessant problems the focus on the health care agenda in the America is a hot debate currently with calls from all quarters for a single payer government controlled health system. The universal health care The constitution of the United States of America is among the few in the developed countries that fail to consider access to health care as a right of citizenship. Health care in addition to being a human want is a human right.
A universal health care system is the kind of a health care coverage provided by a government to its citizens where every medical cost as well as the health insurance cost is met by the government with funds obtained from the public through compulsory health insurance and/ taxation. Much as the America needs such a comprehensive health care plan, the mention of introduction of one has elicited a hot debate among the citizens on its structure, funding mechanism. Companies, and even the presidential aspirant some in support of the plan while yet others critical of the so called Universal Government Controlled Health Care System.
One contentious area is the issue of source of funding the plan. If there is a need for tax payers and businesses to equally foot the whole bill as a tax and thus allow government to establish a system for all Americans is debatable. According to the supporters of the plan the only realistic financing of the plan would be from the taxpayer. Due to the high costs that would be required it will be impossible to think of any other sources of finance except from the businesses and the individuals in form of increased tax.