Pros & Cons of National Health Insurance
It is not a secret that public health is one of the most acute issues faced by the government. The National Health Insurance (NHI) plan should be developed in a way that allows addressing the health needs of all citizens. The fact that healthcare is a basic need of every person means that our government is responsible for selection the most appropriate option for the nation. The NHI should be aimed at considering the basic human right – providing health care coverage to have equal healthcare access regardless of the age, gender, and income. The NHI plan introduced in HR 676 is entitled as The Expanded and Improved Medicare For All Act. This bill seems to make considerable changes in the health care system. Undoubtedly, it is critical to consider the pros and the cons of NHI in order to implement the proper strategies. The NHI plan should be aimed at solving health care problems, instead of creating more problems. Currently, opinions vary, as some physicians, politicians and ordinary citizens across the United States support government legislation to establish national health insurance (the single payer health care), while other oppose it.Pros & Cons of National Health Insurance
To start with, there are certain issues raised by the public and health care providers that highlight the negative effects of NHI plan. It is supposed that old people will be denied care so they will die sooner. People will get sicker because they’ll have to wait for care. There may be long lines for important medical procedures. In addition, people will be assigned to doctors and hospitals and not be able to choose their own. These examples show that NHI plan has some negative effects on society. According to expert, “the establishment of a “single payer” health care system would inevitably result in lower payments for physician and other health care providers” (Book, 2009). Patients will have impairing access to health care services because lower incomes for physicians will lead to reduction in the supply of professionals (or shortage of health care specialists). The NHI plan will eliminate the free market for health care providers because the prices will be stable. This will lead to inability to promote better medical services and produce better medications (Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care, 2017).
At the same time, it is necessary to consider the advantages of NHI. In fact, the average person will greatly benefit from NHI because he/she will be able to have access to regular visits to healthcare providers and receive affordable prescription drugs. Besides, there is a strong link between the country’s well-developed medicine and people’s ability to have high quality of life. National health insurance plan contributes to high level of life expectancy due to high quality of health care services.
As a matter of fact, NHI plan will guarantee progress in provision of healthcare equality, particularly for the under-insured and uninsured groups of Americans. It is possible to predict that the relevant agencies will have enhanced control of spending to reduce administrative costs through effective cost control. In addition, this NHI plan will have “more incentive to health care spending compared to public health measures” (Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care, 2017). The NHI plan will create a “publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that builds on the existing Medicare program” (The single-payer path to genuine health care reform: The United States National health Care Act, H.R. 676, 2017). This fact means that the NHI plan will improve and expand Medicare program to cover all Americans. The NHI plan will be based on simplified system, which does not need much paperwork. Physicians will be able to pay due attention to their patients and treatment options, instead of concentrating on the problems with insurance (Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care, 2017).Pros & Cons of National Health Insurance
References
Book, R. A. (2009). “Single Payer: Why Government-Run Health Care Will Harm Both Patients and Doctors,” The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/single-payer-why-government-run-health-care-will-harm-both-patients-and
The single-payer path to genuine health care reform: The United States National health Care Act, H.R. 676. (2017). PNHP. http://www.pnhp.org/sites/default/files/HR676_Summary_042517.pdf
Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care. (2017). FormosaPost. Jan. 16, 2017. https://www.formosapost.com/pros-and-cons-of-universal-health-care/Pros & Cons of National Health Insurance