If healthcare was free, it’s safe to say that the United States would have to undergo a huge economic change. And the change itself would be an ambitious one.
However, altering health care to become free, or even reduced, would not have such a negative impact that most people believe it will. This economic reform could boost wages and salaries, increase occupational quality, and become one less stressing thing about being an adult.
Universal healthcare could very well increase wages and salaries “by reducing employers’ costs for health insurance,” states Economic Policy Institute (EPI). By doing so, citizens’ salaries and wages can increase due to the redirection of the company’s money.
At the end of the day, one of the biggest counter-reactions to universal health care is the fact that taxing would increase. According to a 2018 article, written by the Senate Republican Policy Committee, taxes would increase by “20 percent.” But, honestly, what is more important? Saving or bringing in a life, or paying more for taxes? It’s understandable to be frustrated with having to pay off someone else’s hospitality funds through your own tax money, but is it really worth complaining that someone else’s life that could be saved results in being too “expensive” for you?
Having a child in an U.S. hospital roughly costs “$30,000” without insurance. To have a c-section without insurance is “$50,000,” and with insurance for both a regular birth and c-section is around “$3,400,” all according to Wise. Those without insurance, who usually are uninsured because the cost to be insured in the first place is too high for them – How do you think they will be able to reasonably pay off $30- $50K?
Another extremely interesting statistic to mention is the fact that roughly 212,000 Americans in 2020 could have been saved if there were a “single-payer universal healthcare system,” according to a Yale Study conducted by their School of Health. In addition to this, our “country would have saved $105 billion in COVID-19 hospitalization expenses alone.”
At the end of the day, our government’s main concern should be about our own well-being and protection. Insane amounts of debt, grief, and more all branching back to this flawed system is not entirely everyone’s idea of protection.
