While universal healthcare should be a no brainer, it still remains a topic of contentious disagreement in America. The U.S. government has been moving away from accessible healthcare, and it needs to change its course.
With the absurd prices private insurance companies make people pay, healthcare becomes less and less attainable each year. We all know profit is the goal for the companies, because at the end of the day, they are businesses.
Roughly 18% of the U.S.’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024 was healthcare expenses, with an expected 2% increase by 2033. With this money, we only cover about 35.5% of the population in the country with public insurance.
In comparison, 12.4% of Canada’s GDP in 2024 was healthcare expenses, but they covered 99.7% of their population.
In simple terms: We spend more and cover fewer, while Canada spends less and covers more. America should be covering way more people than we already are.
The issue is that American healthcare is a business. Administrative duplication, prescription drug cost and lifestyle choices drive up the costs of healthcare in this country, making private insurance the only option for many.
From a moral standpoint: Insulin should be free or of low cost to diabetics, it should not cost an arm and a leg. The same goes for cancer patients. The same goes for everyone in this country.
We all deserve universal healthcare, it is a fundamental right, but the price of these items makes our insurance system the only option to get them.
It’s quite interesting though that many Republicans don’t favor universal healthcare, and are actively moving to make healthcare less affordable. The “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Trump’s administration will dramatically raise health care costs for millions. Furthermore, it vastly increased administrative burdens for people with Medicaid.
While the path to universal healthcare may be tedious for elected officials, at the end of the day, it will be worth it. Yet, our current administration, and country at large seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
