As the health insurance debate continues to rage and doesn't
appear to be stopping any time soon, it's important to ask this
question: is health insurance a need or a luxury? The side that believes
in universal health care for everyone obviously thinks it is a need,
that everyone deserves the right to have at least the bare minimum of
health insurance coverage for themselves and their families. Those who
believe it is a luxury tend to say health insurance is unnecessary
before a certain age and is something people should be able to freely
decide to spend money on, rather than being required to by the state or
federal government.
Both sides have valid points, which is what makes the health insurance debate so interesting, complex and heated. According to the True Cost blog, 32 of the 33 developed nations in the world have Universal Healthcare. This ranges from all of the countries in Europe to Japan to middle eastern countries like Kuwait and Israel. The lone exception is the United States, who has not come around to doing this yet, though it appears to be on the horizon.
What a universal healthcare system does is tax the people of the country slightly more so that all basic healthcare needs are covered. But with all healthcare needs covered, people in the country itself have one less thing to worry about if they get sick or injured in some way. Therefore they can theoretically concentrate on their work and lives and make their country a better place as a whole. There are different forms of insurance in these countries, ranging from the government paying for everything or mandating that everyone gets their own health coverage so they are covered in the event an unexpected health problem arises.
This does take away a freedom from people to decide whether they want their hard-earned money going towards health insurance, money that is almost always paying for other people's health problems. It also makes the cost of living slightly higher, at least in the short term. However, if the whole society is much healthier, it should run better and the economy will adjust to fold it into the overall cost of living, over time.
In other words, health insurance is a need in this day and age, as the ultimate goal of society is to be a great place for everyone to live and have opportunity, not just those who can afford it.
Both sides have valid points, which is what makes the health insurance debate so interesting, complex and heated. According to the True Cost blog, 32 of the 33 developed nations in the world have Universal Healthcare. This ranges from all of the countries in Europe to Japan to middle eastern countries like Kuwait and Israel. The lone exception is the United States, who has not come around to doing this yet, though it appears to be on the horizon.
What a universal healthcare system does is tax the people of the country slightly more so that all basic healthcare needs are covered. But with all healthcare needs covered, people in the country itself have one less thing to worry about if they get sick or injured in some way. Therefore they can theoretically concentrate on their work and lives and make their country a better place as a whole. There are different forms of insurance in these countries, ranging from the government paying for everything or mandating that everyone gets their own health coverage so they are covered in the event an unexpected health problem arises.
This does take away a freedom from people to decide whether they want their hard-earned money going towards health insurance, money that is almost always paying for other people's health problems. It also makes the cost of living slightly higher, at least in the short term. However, if the whole society is much healthier, it should run better and the economy will adjust to fold it into the overall cost of living, over time.
In other words, health insurance is a need in this day and age, as the ultimate goal of society is to be a great place for everyone to live and have opportunity, not just those who can afford it.
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