Universal Healthcare System is the system in which the healthcare is funded by the government. This type of system ensures that all citizens regardless of their income can access free healthcare. However, like any complicated system in the world, this system also has its advantage and disadvantages.
Advantages of Universal Healthcare:
Universal healthcare allows all people to access healthcare without having to bear the financial difficulties of an expensive treatment. This free access to healthcare allows people to access healthcare without socio-economical backgrounds. By having healthcare consolidated in one hand, it may be easier to regulate the prices of treatments, drugs, and equipments.
Also, due to the fact that the healthcare is free, people are encouraged to get preventive care so that diseases are spotted early and the treatment for the disease are starts early, which lowers the long-time financial costs. Due to the fact that there is a single payer healthcare, it reduces the administrative costs compared to other multi paid healthcare systems.
Generally, universal healthcare aims to have a healthier society by giving all citizens free healthcare. This system overall reduces the burden on the healthcare system. Finally, a single payer universal healthcare usually eliminates out of the pocket expenses on the treatments, which creates a financial relief for patients.
The Disadvantages of Universal Healthcare System:
The first and foremost disadvantage is that to sustain the universal healthcare system, the costs must be covered by the taxes. This action leads to high taxation levels to keep the universal single paid health system. Also, due to the fact that all healthcare is from one place, it leads to a limited amount of choice for treatments and doctors. This lack of choices leads to longer waiting hours. Which leads to dissatisfaction with the healthcare system.
Another vital disadvantage of the universal healthcare system is that it may involve state making, the decision process may lead to high bureaucratic difficulties. Also, there are some that argues that a centralized healthcare system postpones any idea of innovation in the system because there is nothing to compete about. And finally, critics of this system argue that the quality of the universal healthcare system will be poor compared to not universal single paid healthcare system.
Modern Healthcare Systems:
Throughout our modern world, there are many types of healthcare system in each unique country. Some are single paid by the state some are multi paid some uses insurances for the healthcare system and finally there are the socialized medical access.
Single-Payer System:
A single payer system is the system in which all costs are only covered by the government. There are no private hospitals and all the resources, researches, and allocations of healthcare are taken care by the government.
Multi-Payer System:
Like the single-payer healthcare system, all citizens have the access to healthcare. But unlike the single-payer system, there are both public and private insurances. This system can be exampled with the system of Germany and the Netherlands.
Socialized Medicine:
In this system, the government does not only fund the healthcare system, but it operates and employs healthcare professionals. The Veterans Health Administration in the USA is an example of socialized medicine.
Insurance Mandate:
The last system is the insurance mandated system. In this system it is mandatory for everyone to have health insurance whether it is public or private. In this type of system, the government may provide health insurance.
Sources & Bibliography:
- https://mashable.com/feature/universal-healthcare
- https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/universal-health-coverage-can-done-right
- https://otherwords.org/this-pandemic-showed-the-benefits-of-universal-health-care/
- https://www.investopedia.com/insurance/why-do-healthcare-costs-keep-rising/
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