Universal Healthcare in America: A Fat Chance?
“Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.” – World Health Organization
Medicine is a basic life essential among food, shelter and water. Since the days of early humans, medicine men tended to the sick. Wild chimpanzees and orangutans practice medicine, tearing open carefully selected leaves and applying their healing juices to wounds.
Whether ape or human, medical care is obligatory for life on Earth.
But the United States prioritizes profits over people, putting a high price tag on medical care and medications. These life essentials are out of reach for too many average citizens. The elite, though, are privileged to afford them at exorbitant costs whenever illness strikes.
While the United States charges a premium for healthcare, countries, like Greenland, offer it free to its citizens. Greenlanders pay hefty taxes to cover it but it’s a system that works, keeping its people happy and healthy. The indicator of success of universal healthcare models is that citizens willingly pay higher taxes, confident they can rely upon this safety net in a life where disease, sickness and injury are inevitable.
The average earners are as vulnerable to disease as higher income brackets.
Yet the US for-profit healthcare system favors those able to overspend. Rural communities lack robust medical clinics while urban areas are populated with countless hospitals and health professionals. Many older Americans must decide between buying medications or food. These disparities are unthinkable in a land of freedom for all.
The indicator of success of universal healthcare models is that citizens willingly pay higher taxes, confident they can rely upon this safety net in a life where disease, sickness and injury are inevitable.
The US spends over a trillion dollars annually on health insurance, which does not guarantee access to healthcare. High premiums and co-pays make care unaffordable.
Canada, Norway, Australia, Denmark, Brazil, South Korea and France are among the over 30 countries in the world that deliver free healthcare to its citizens through taxation. Unlike health insurance, free healthcare means access to care.
There are no greater freedoms and quality of life than the peace and security of knowing your health will be taken care of in a time of crisis or need.
Greenland, and similar forward-thinking countries, doesn’t brag to be among the wealthiest in the world. But it is a nation of happiness and health—undeniably the greatest riches.