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Do you support or oppose universal health care?

Is universal health care really universal? Many people support that health care should be

universal and many countries have provided universal health care. Everyone who lives in those

countries can access free medical services without any concerns of cost. Even though free

health care offers that people can receive treatment regardless of their ability to pay, people do

not consider much about where the cost of health care comes from. In fact, the cost is paid by

people no matter if they use health care or not. Therefore, health care should not be universal

as it needs a lot of tax from individuals and could diminish the quality of health care service.

Firstly, the government must need plenty of tax to provide free healthcare. The fact that

the government needs a lot of money to implement something related to welfare means that

people have to pay more taxes. For example, according to Louise Gaille (July 13, 2018) “In

Canada, the costs of health care can be as much as 40% of the government’s annual budget at

the provincial level”. This means that the budget comes from citizens' income. The higher the

income, the more taxes people have to pay which means that “the healthiest people pay for the

unhealthiest” by Jauhar(n.d.). Moreover, health care should be the responsibility of the

individual not the government because it is run by individuals' taxes. To sum up, universal

healthcare is never free and also with similar reasons, the quality of healthcare people receive

may diminish.

Some people argue that the best advantage of universal health care is cheaper and fully

free. While it may be true that free care is the best advantage for patients and they can seek

treatment without any payment, the fact is that free service practically can reduce the quality of

the health care. First, it is not fiction that you may have to wait a few months to see a specialist,

and it may cause patients not to be able to get the surgery or treatment they should need to get

on time. Another side is that there are budget limits. When the government spends all its budget

for health care, patients have to wait until next year's budget is decided and no more health care

is available this year (by Hughes, 2020).

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In conclusion, people should consider what universal health care really means for cost

and how it affects the quality of the health care. The free service run by the government

requests a lot of taxes from citizens and also doctors need enough money to offer better

medical service and study new medical technology. If healthcare is not universal, people do not

have to pay a tremendous amount of tax anymore, and therefore people can save more money

for themselves, and they can expect to receive better and trustworthy treatment from doctors

who can earn lots of money as well. Ultimately, do you still want to pay for others who you have

ever never met in your life?

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References

ProCon.org (2019, February 14): Should All Americans Have the Right (Be Entitled) to Health

Care?

https://healthcare.procon.org/

Jauhar S(n.d.): Should healthcare be free?

https://www.parlia.com/a/free-healthcare-leaves-healthiest-footing#explore

Gaille L (2018, July 13): 17 Universal Health Care Pros and Cons

https://vittana.org/17-universal-health-care-pros-and-cons

Hughes S (2020, March 5): PROS AND CONS OF UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE AKA

MEDICARE FOR ALL https://www.coronishealth.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-universal-

healthcare-aka-medicare-for-all/