Should the Government Provide Health Care? 1

Should the Government Provide Health Care? Health care here in America is a hot topic among the conversations around the water cooler. Between the slow economic recession we are all facing and the high cost of medical coverage, and more and more American’s are having to go without. Among working-age adults (those ages 18-64), 19.8% did not have health insurance in 2006, an increase in the percent uninsured from 18.9% the year before. (CDC, 2007) Is there a health care crisis in America? Should we now look at the government for help when it comes to our health care? In this paper I look at the argument for and against united health care system, and how it may benefit or annihilate the remainder of the economy in America. I will also describe how freedom, moral responsibility and ethics play into the role of health care for America. What is universal health care? It refers to a system where every legal resident of that country be covered by some form of insurance, through tax revenues from the paying citizens. Universal health care is a broad notion that has been implemented in several ways. The common denominator for all such programs is some form of government action aimed at providing access to health care as widely as possible. Most countries implement universal health care through legislation, regulation and taxation. Legislation and regulation direct what care must be provided, to whom, and on what basis. What about America, would UHC be beneficial, could it collapse the economy, would people be willing to have their taxes raised in order to pay for the health care of their family and friends? The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized country that does not have a universal health care system. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008) This administration estimates that the federal government will spend over $600 billion on health care in fiscal 2008. Of that, Medicare will claim roughly $390 billion, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health