Single-Payer Healthcare

INTRODUCTION ViceRegent has not assigned the act of thievery to any specific item, and he has also misused the term “Fascist.” Let me define it both for him and for the viewers and voters. Fascism, from the Latin fasce, is “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition,” [1]. I would not classify single-payer as Communism, which I believe ViceRegent has Fascism confused with, which is “a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property,” [2]. And believe me, I am no Communist. It would only work in a perfect world, which this is clearly not. Anyway, now that we have that out of the way, let me proceed with my arguments. I will first name examples of foreign nations that have implemented single-payer and benefitted from it, and then I will go into the arguments for why and how the United States should adopt a similar system. ARGUMENTS Single-payer, universal healthcare is the jewel of Social Democracy and the developed world. Most nations have some form of this system. Let me cite a map for this [3]. Dark green nations include Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and the light green is virtually everyone else—excluding a few nations in Latin America, the majority of Africa, and Pacific island nations. But just because the other kids get a lollipop, does that mean you need one too? Sugar, we all know, can be dangerous in high amounts. And simply put, it is not the healthiest thing. Do you need to indulge in McDonald’s fries when your friends are smacking them right in front of you, or will you reach for an apple instead? In another debate of mine, which discusses the possibilities of a Bernie Sanders presidency, I discussed extensively the effect of free trade agreements all around the world. Just because everyone is indulging in them does not mean we should get into them. In fact, I have made arguments as to why we should outright back out of these agreements. But as more and more people start to like apples, which are healthy, why not join them and grab one too? Let me point to the United Kingdom as a prime example of this system. In 2013, the UK spent as a percentage of their gross domestic product 9.1% on healthcare alone [4]. Respectively, the United States spent 17.1% in 2013 [5]. Comparatively, the life expectancy of the United States is 76 for males and 81 for females; in the United Kingdom, 79 and 83; and per capita, in 2013, the UK spent 3311/9146ths as much as we did on healthcare per capita. (Please forgive that the fraction is so large. It could not be reduced to simpler terms. But as a decimal, that would be about 0.362. And here is something shocking, and you can do the math yourself using sources four and five to verify it yourself: People aged 15 to 60 years in the US have a probability of dying one and a half as much as those in the UK. I believe single-payer is not only the European model or the Canadian model or the Australian model… it is the all-star American model too. People are afraid of what they do not understand, but once they understand, they will come around. Yes, every policy has pros and cons. Even the best of social programs or regulatory codes or laws have unintended side effects. I will be 100% about some of single-payer’s flaws. The administrator of Medcohlth.com wrote on 23 May, 2012, “Since everything is paid for by the taxes in this system, many people hate the idea that their money will be paying and supporting the unhealthy decisions of others. The government bureaucratic procedures & budget issues will rationalize the health care resulting in selection of the medical procedures which will be deemed necessary which will be catered for, while the others will not be catered for” [6]. The problem: Many folks do not want their taxpayer dollars to go to the reckless or the incompetent. Where will the funds come from? Well, let it be clear that the United States has the highest military spending in the world. The United States spends a bit more than China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UK, India, France, and Japan… combined [7]. I am no lawmaker, but common sense tells me we can afford single-payer. SOURCES [1] http://www.merriam-webster.com... [2] http://www.merriam-webster.com... [3] http://chartsbin.com... [4] http://www.who.int... [5] http://www.who.int... [6] http://www.medcohlth.com... [7] http://www.pgpf.org...