A: In 2002, there were 43 million uninsured Americans, so about 15 percent of the population. The figure goes up every year.
A: According to a New York Times article, an �ABC News-Washington Post poll found that, by a margin to almost 2 to 1, Americans prefer a government system covering everyone instead of the employer-based system.
A: Instead of being viewed as a social or public good, healthcare is in fact treated as a private good or commodity in the US.
A: It makes workers dependent on their employers for coverage, which adds to the difficulties of changing or losing a job. This results in �not only damping economic efficiency but reducing the competition for labor and, therefore, reducing wages.�(Akst). Workers feel locked in their current jobs because of the fear of losing benefits, which then lowers productivity. Also, many employers are cutting back on the health insurance they provide by either dropping it entirely or by making it harder for employees to qualify. It excludes the unemployed, the self-employed, low-skilled workers and those with a history of health problems. A person with a pre-existing condition is often uninsurable. Even among people who are both employed and insured, this system creates inequalities. Low wage firms for instance tend to pay a smaller percentage of premium costs, and offer policies with fewer benefits.
A: All Canadians, rich or poor, employed or not, are covered under the same national plan.
A: No! Health care is paid for by government revenues (taxes), but it is not provided by it. It is provided by private doctors who work on a fee-for-service basis, and by non-profit private hospitals. The medical services patients get are NOT provided by the government and therefore their system shouldn�t be called socialized medicine.
A: Canadians do not wait for care that is required immediately. Patients who require urgent care are admitted in emergency rooms without regard to ability to pay. �Surgery that is deemed medically necessary on an urgent basis is also done quickly�. (Armstrong, p.56) The waiting times are longer than in the US for only a few special types of surgery.
A: No! Despite the high quality of care and the amount of services the Canadian system offers to all its residents, it costs less than the American system. The reason is that it is a publicly administered single-payer system, which greatly reduces the administrative costs and other types of costs that the private multi-payer system of the US creates.
A: a) An important factor that interferes with implementing universal health care is the American faith in the free market. Many Americans believe that the market can solve anything, and that it is more efficient than government programs.
b) Those who benefit from the system, the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies and some doctors and hospitals, strongly oppose government regulations and structural change. To secure their economic self-interests, they use special interest groups lobbying in Washington, and run misinformation campaigns.
A: With such a system, there would be no need for private insurance companies anymore. The government would simply replace them by one big public insurance company. The pharmaceutical industry would be forced to lower the prices of their drugs.
A: Check the Take Action page on this website.