In two different paragraph give your personal opinion to Latoya Brown and Casie Woodruff
Latoya Brown
The Pros of having a single payer healthcare plan would be considered universal coverage for people that are eligible for health coverage “the coverage would also be continuous people would not have to lose coverage or need to change coverage, family status, or income” (Blumberg, Holahan 2019). The single payer coverage would guarantee that all U.S residents would have the same benefits, with no high out-of-pocket expenses. The single payer plan guarantees coverage for people with preexisting conditions, and helps people to great access to care for people that have a lower income. The health plan has equal rates for people under the plan.
The cons of the single payer health plan is that the system “some estimate that the single payer system could increase the federal health care spending by more that 50 percent” (Blumberg, Holahan 2019). The health care spending would increase government spending which leads to higher taxes, and a increase in the federal deficit. The single payer systems could lead to cuts in the healthcare organizations including cuts in Physicians pay which could add more to the shortage of Physicians.
Reference:
Blumberg, Linda Holahan, John The Pros and Cons of Single-Payer Health Plans
Retrieved from: urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99918/pros-and-cons-of-a-single-payer-plan.pdf
Casie Woodruff
There are people who are for and against single payer health plans. A single-payer plan is just one way that we can lead up to universal coverage. Many people do not understand what a single-payer system entails. Our healthcare system relies on the private sector. Although we have the Affordable Care Act, we have programs that are federally sponsored like Medicaid and Medicare that “provide subsidized or free healthcare to those who qualify using taxpayer dollars”. The end goal of both is to have the healthcare industry run and regulated by the government and take private health insurance companies out of the mix (Neeman, 2018). The problem is that we would have to use taxpayer money to fund the costs. “If so many other developed nations have adopted the single-payer healthcare system, then why is the US so hesitant to follow suit?” Just like everything, there are pros and cons to the matter.
Pros:
Everyone is covered. Unfortunately, healthcare is not a right. So why not switch over to Medicare for all where everyone has coverage? About 1 in 3 Americans between the ages of 27- 36 say they’ve chosen not to seek needed medical attention because they couldn’t afford it (Neeman, 2018).
Healthier population. When people don’t have insurance coverage, they are losing out on benefits, especially preventive care. It’s way easier to catch and treat something before it advances into something worse.
Better for business. Most employees have insurance through their employers. Employer- sponsored coverage is actually mandatory under the Affordable Care Act if a company has 50 or more employees (Neeman, 2018). But if we had a single-payer system, employers wouldn’t have to worry about the costly benefits.
Reduced spending per capita. The US spends the most per capita; granted we do have a larger population.
Cons:
Significant tax hikes. Just imagine how much more you would be paying in taxes. The money has to come from somewhere. For examples a “2.2% tax would be applied to individuals who earn $200,000 and to families who earn $250,000 or less each year”. This could hurt businesses causing a higher unemployment rate.
Longer wait times. It’s going to be hard to avoid these longer wait times. If everyone had access to the same coverage, there would inevitably be more people seeking medical attention that there are now, which would create longer wait times (Neeman, 2018).
Reduced government funding. This would financially drain the government. It would take money away from infrastructure and education.
Eliminating competition. “Competition drives innovation.” If there are no profits to drive the competition, doctors couldn’t compete with the best technology (which increases their profits).
It doesn’t matter whether you are for or against this idea, but you need to at least have an understanding.
Neeman, E. 14 Jun 2018. First Quote Health: The Pros and Cons of a Single-Payer Health Care System. Retrieved from URL address: https://www.firstquotehealth.com/health-insurance-news/single-payer-health-care-pros-cons
