Universal health care is health care coverage for all eligible residents of a political region and often covers medical, dental and mental health care. These programs vary in their structure and funding mechanisms. Typically, most costs are met via a single-payer health care system or national health insurance, or else by compulsory regulated pluralist insurance (public, private or mutual) meeting certain regulated standards. Universal health care is implemented in all but one of the wealthy, industrialized countries, with the exception being the United States. It is also provided in many developing countries and is the trend worldwide.
Universal health care is a broad concept that has been implemented in several ways. The common denominator for all such programs is some form of government action aimed at extending access to health care as widely as possible and setting minimum standards. Most implement universal health care through legislation, regulation and taxation. Legislation and regulation direct what care must be provided, to whom, and on what basis. Usually some costs are borne by the patient at the time of consumption but the bulk of costs come from a combination of compulsory insurance and tax revenues. Some programs are paid for entirely out of tax revenues. In some cases, government involvement also includes directly managing the health care system, but many countries use mixed public-private systems to deliver universal health care
The United States is the ...
About two years ago I had to go to the hospital for an auto-immune disease. The first thing they asked me wasn't "What's wrong?" My hands were blue, my breathing was unusual, my entire body was swollen, and they couldn't find a pulse when they checked for it (I was concious, but I was so swollen up it was hard to get through). In spite of all this, in spite of an obvious problem that was literally standing right in front of them, I not only had to wait for EIGHT hours before they could put me in a hospital room, but they refused to do so until I provided proof of insurance. And after I did THAT I had to wait for them to make sure my insurance would cover it. I went into the hospital around 3 PM and wasn't even able to be fully taken care of until... 2 AM.
Now put on top of that, I had blood clots in my lungs along with this disease (it causes them--it's called Minimal Change Disease). They told me that I could've died within the next 6 months if I hadn't gotten to the hospital. Well, if that's true, I don't want to think about what could've happened had I not had insurance. And even then, if my insurance wasn't "good enough" they could've kicked me out at any time.
Now the big huge part. Two weeks in the hospital... with insurance the bill couldn't have been that bad, right? Well... no. It cost well over $65,000 dollars. The average household doesn't even make that much in a year.
I'd rather have healthcare reform than go through that (again, I had to wait eight hours... just to get admitted, and then I had to wait DAYS for them to find out what was wrong with me). And despite being out of the hospital, I have to go back in every two weeks because there's the slight chance that it could come back. So I'm the hole with doctors for a long time.
Also, I actually know a few people in Canada and England. When I asked them about it, they were actually amused at all the hubbub over the wait times. The longest my friend in England had to wait to see a Doctor was thirty minutes. My friend in Canada did say she had to wait a little longer, but I've yet to talk to anyone from England or Canada who had to wait days to get treated. So some of those wait time explanations could actually be a little overstated... or there could actually be fewer examples of this than we actually know. But when talking to my Canadian and English friends... it seems that there are still some things we don't fully understand about these countries healthcare system. One thing all of them DID say however, was that it was nice to know you'll get treated for anything when you walk in. And actually, from what I've seen in all my doctors visits... so are many Americans waiting as well. It seems like you'll have to wait much of the time, it's just a matter of how long. There were people who had to wait longer when I was in the E.R.. But it isn't all bad, because if they see you bleeding near death they actually will take you immediately, which is nice. So America's healthcare isn't bad. When you get treated, you get treated, and it's fabulous. The doctor's are really nice people, when you stay in the hospital they do everything to make sure you're accomodated for and make sure you're comfortable. The problem is getting to that point. You could be stopped because you don't have insurance or because your insurance just doesn't cover your condition. Health Insurance sometimes feels more like a "medical coupon," than anything else.
If it isn't universal healthcare, There needs to be something done to at least make it more affordable. I don't like the idea that my insurance company has as big a stock in whether or not I get treated as they do. And I REALLY don't like that my doctor decided that he had to see if I had insurance and whether or not it was "good enough" before he even started treatment. So yes, some kind of reform is in order.
America's healthcare system is certainly not horrible. It's mostly just the health insurance issue that floors me. Even with coverage, getting the care that's needed can still be tough. But financially it can be incredibly draining on a lot of people. So no, not exactly universal healthcare, but perhaps reform is in order. At least to make it more affordable and to keep people from getting kicked out just because they don't have insurance or what have you. I'm willing to go through reform. Even if it isn't universal healthcare or anything like that, affordability would be nice.