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Throughout the 18th and 19th century, the US Federal government did not finance or otherwise provide a national health insurance to the public. However in the early 20th century, a debate over the right to health insurance began leading to the culmination of bills that were drafted by the then American Association for Labour Legislation 1915 and which have informed the current Affordable Care Act championed by the President Obamas administration. According to the health insurance association of America, health insurance is defined as coverage that provides for payments of benefits as a result of sickness or injuries. Includes insurance for losses from accident, medical expense, disability, accidental death and dismemberment. The Requirement that all citizens should pay for government insurance for health care is one of the most contentious issues in US politics today. This thesis, therefore, will look at the main issues objectively in an attempt to answer whether there is indeed need or not for a health insurance scheme in the US.
Health insurance should be required because providing all citizens with health insurance will be good for economic productivity. When people have access to Insurance, they live healthier lives and miss work less, allowing them to contribute more to the economy. A March 2012 study at the university of Pennsylvania and Colorado showed that workers with insurance miss work an average of 4.7 workdays as compared to 7 for the uninsured. According to the institute of Medicine, the US economy looses $65-$130 billion annually as a result of diminished worker productivity due to poor health and premature deaths among the uninsured. In Jan 2014, the World Bank president reiterated this in a speech where he stated that a right to health insurance should be provided to help foster and bolster economic growth.
Health insurance should also be required because ultimately it will improve the public health sector. Evidence shows that broader health coverage leads to a better access and improved population health, particularly for the poor people. According to a 2008 peer-reviewed study in the annals of internal medicine, there was 1.4 million uninsured working age Americans with chronic diseases as heart disease and diabetes and their lack of insurance was associated with less access to care, early disability and even death. This will be a forgotten static once the government successfully implements the Affordable Care Act to full.
Implementing Health insurance as a requirement can also benefit the private sector and encourage entrepreneurship. Successful implementation would mean that businesses will no longer have to pay for the employee health insurance policies. As of 2009, 59.5% of Americans were receiving health insurance through their employer. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, some economists believe that high costs of employee health insurance place companies at a competitive disadvantage in the international market place. Many people are afraid of starting their own businesses for fear of losing their existing jobs and the health insurance that comes with them.
The right to health insurance cover from the government is an internationally recognized human right. On December 10th, 1948, the United States signed the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. The document stated that everyone has the right to a standard of living, adequate for health cover and well-being of oneself and family. According to a 2008 reviewed study, the right to health cover features are not just for good management, justice or humanitarianism, they are obligations under the human rights law. As of 2013, over half of the world's countries had the right to health insurance in their constitutions. Many countries as France, United Kingdom, and Italy have a lower Gross domestic Produce than the US yet they provide for health insurance.47.9 million people in the United States (15.4%of the US population) did not have health insurance in 2012 according to the US Census Bureau. The US and Mexico are the only countries of the thirty-four members of the Organization For Economic Co-operation And Development that don't have universal health insurance. Providing health insurance will be a necessary foundation of a just society. The US already provides for free public education, public law enforcement, public road maintenance and other public services to its citizens hence, health insurance should be added to this list. According to Norman Daniels Ph.D., Professor of Ethics And Population Health at Harvard University, health Insurance provides for the people the ability to participate in the political, social and economic life of society. It sustains them as fully participating citizens
Should health insurance be a requirement, many lives would be saved. According to a 2009 study from Harvard Researchers, lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44,789 deaths a year which translate to a 40% increased risk of death among the uninsured. Another study found that more than 3,000 deaths occur each year in the 15-64-year-old age group due to lack of health insurance coverage. In addition, a 2011 Commonwealth Fund Study found that due to lack of timely and effective health care, the US ranked at the bottom of the list of sixteen rich nations in terms of preventable mortality. In Italy, Spain, France, Australia, Israel and Norway, all countries with a right to health insurance, people lived two to three years longer
Implementing health insurance would make medical services affordable to everyone. According to a 2012 Study from consumer reports, paying for health insurance is the top financial problem for US households. According to a peer-reviewed Study in health affairs between 2003 and 2015, the cost of family health insurance premiums has increased by 80%.According to Kaiser Family Foundation, 26% of Americans report that they or a family member had trouble paying medical bills and 58% reported that they delayed or did not seek medical care due to cost. According to one estimate of Affordable Care Act, 95% of households would have money and every individual in the US would receive guaranteed access to publicly financed medical care.
However a group of researchers, policy makers and citizens are opposed to making health insurance a requirement in the United States. One of the main arguments fronted by opponents to health insurance is that people should pay for their own health insurance and not have it given by the government as this also contravenes their constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom.The right to health insurance is paid through taxes and people who work hard to pay these taxes are forced to subsidize health care for those who are not employed. This right to purchase health insurance is already a right in the US and they should never have a right to receive insurance but they should pay for it. Should it be that the health insurance is mandated, then their constitutional right of freedom to choose whatever they wish would be infringed. Creating a guarantee of universal health insurance coverage would vastly expand the role of the federal government in the lives of the American people who are better off with the freedom to make their own health care choices.
Implementing a health insurance requirement could lead to socialism and discourage entrepreneurship. Socialism, by definition, entails government control over the distribution of goods and services. Under a single health insurance for all, the medical bills would be paid by the government. They argue that a free market should determine availability and cost of health care services and not the federal government. This will be against capitalism which has always been championed by the US government. In an argument to counteract the effect of health insurance on entrepreneurship to the effect that it will encourage entrepreneurship, the opponents would argue that the plan will have a competitive advantage that would drive private firms out of the business. This they say that it would leave the consumers with no choice. Without a better option or an alternate one at that, there would be no competition which would lead to a lapse in the quality of the services offered and would be an onset of socialism.
Implementing a health insurance requirement for all would raise taxes. In European countries with right to health insurance, the cost of coverage is paid through higher taxes. According to Paul R Gregory, Ph.D., a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, financing a universal right to health insurance in the US would cost payroll taxes to double up. Large government programmes are always inefficient and broadening eligibility would increase federal spending dramatically.
Implementation of the health care requirement for all could cause people to overuse health care resources. When Americans will be provided with the health insurance and they are not directly responsible for the costs of medical services, they may utilize more health resources than necessary. This phenomenon is known as a moral hazard. According to Brookings Institution, just before Medicaid went into effect in 1964, people living below the poverty line saw physicians 20% less often than those were not in poverty. But by 1975, people living in poverty who were placed on Medicaid saw physicians 18% more often than people who were not on Medicaid. January 2014 Study, published in science found that of 10000 uninsured Portland, Oregon who gained access to Medicaid 40% made more visits to emergency rooms, even though they, like all US residents, already had guaranteed access to emergency treatments under federal law. Since Medicaid provides a right to health insurance for low-income individuals, expanding this right to the full US population would worsen the problem of overusing health care resources.
In conclusion, the right to health insurance should not be denied to an individual living in the US, one of the richest nations in the world. It would be ironical that even some second world and third world countries offer health insurance as a requirement yet the US is not capable of offering universal health insurance to its citizens. The health insurance requirement will indeed stop medical bankruptcies, improve public health, reduce overall health care spending, help small businesses and start-ups and that health insurance should be an essential government service. Regardless of concerns against it, the requirements are actually in harmony with the US constitution of promoting the general welfare of the people and that all men have unalienable rights among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness which necessarily entail having the healthcare and insurance needed to preserve life and pursue it to the fullest.