Healthcare has always remained a contentious issue among citizens in the United States. Branded ‘home of the brave’, there is a seemingly apparent divide among Americans as to how to approach the concept of federal healthcare available for the public – regardless of financial status or severity of diagnosis.
An opinion that healthcare is a basic human right means that a sustainable system must be put in place to ensure some extent of equity of care. However, despite the Affordable Care Act making it illegal to deny service to anyone due to economic status, the current mindset of Americans towards the system is proving difficult to combat. It begs these kinds of questions. What kind of impact does that have on our health care system when providing emergency care without any sort of insurance coverage? With immigrants who have come in under the radar not paying taxes, what kind of effect does this have on our economy as a whole?”
The 2016 presidential election will be a major factor in the discussion towards future healthcare reforms. Democratic underdog Bernie Saunders has been a pioneer in leading the debate about introducing a fully-fledged federal system to provide unlimited healthcare services to citizens in all 50 states. However, there has been a backlash among more right wing politicians who negatively describe Saunders as a ‘socialist’.
There are several controversies regarding the possibility to federalize healthcare, which may jeopardize certain aspects such as the cost, quality, and access for individuals. It simply means that the government would have more regulation over medical and hospital care, resulting in more overall service due to raised taxation from citizens. This socialization is not seen as desirable to many Americans, who usually favor the political ideology of capitalism and an overall reduction of the powers given to large governments.
