Universal Health Care Benefits

The first thing asked for in a hospital in the US is the credit card. While family members are more than happy to give it up in the heat of the moment, they can’t, but feel a sense of hopelessness from the outrageous bills that are soon to come. Sadly, this a detrimental effect of the current medical system in place in the US. Although universal health care may not be a constitutional right, establishing one would decrease overall spending on healthcare, make healthcare more accessible, and improve the general health of the public. Universal healthcare is a cheaper alternative. In a study in 2010, the Health Research Funding Organisation were surprised to find that “the GDP spent on healthcare in the UK, Sweden, and Australia was 8.4%, 9.1%, and 8.7% respectively while healthcare in the US makes up 16% of the GDP” (“Universal Health Care”). Gross Domestic Product or GDP is a measure of …show more content…
The Health Research Funding Organization has released a staggering statistic showing the US to have the “lowest life expectancy of any other first world country with universal healthcare by at least 3 years” (“Health Research Funding”). The life expectancy is an average life span taken from all the citizens. This huge disparity means that generally people who life in the non-universal healthcare system in the US have a shorter life span. In a study on infant mortality, the World Health Organization found that “the under 5 infant mortality rate in the US is 6.5 deaths per 1000 while the European counterparts have a rate of 3.5 deaths per 1000” (“World Health Organization”). Although these numbers may not seem huge at first glance, it makes a big difference when you look at the big picture. This adds up to 130,590 infant deaths per year in the US, and 163,850 infant deaths in Europe per year, although Europe’s population is almost 250% the size of the US and only accounts for nearly 25% more infant