Pros & Cons of Free Health Care

Free universal health coverage is a topic many people have been debating for quite a while in the United States. The concept of free health care basically means that every single citizen will be able to receive health coverage, regardless of whether they are able to pay for it. This means that no matter how poor or rich a person is, she will be able to see a doctor and get medication no matter what. As with anything, there are both advantages and disadvantages to such a concept.

Saving Lives

• One significant advantage (perhaps the most important one) of free universal health care is that it could honestly save people's lives. People are constantly dying because of their inability to pay for adequate (or any) health care coverage. Even people who have full-time jobs are often incapable of purchasing health care (as many jobs do not offer coverage). Free health care would eliminate a large part of this problem.

Loss of Quality

• One possible disadvantage of free health care would be a drastic loss in quality. Many people worry that free health care would cause the health care offered in hospitals and medical clinics to not be of the same quality of excellence. This would simply be inevitable as hospitals and medical centers would have many more patients to see.

Access to Care

• Access and availability of health care would be another potential disadvantage to having free universal health care in the United States. Long waiting lists for receiving health care could be a serious problem, and people might simply not be able to get access to the health care they need on a timely basis.

Lower Costs

• One possible benefit to free health care would be a reduction in the cost of United States-made consumer products. Free, nationalized health care would take the burden off of companies who are currently paying extremely high health care costs to their employers. These savings would be passed onto consumers in the form of lower product prices.

Considerations

• Seeing as there are both serious pros and cons regarding the issue of free health care, it is a difficult issue to debate. In 2005, a survey done by the American Consumer Institute had results showing that American consumers are divided with regards to the support of a nationalized health plan that would have doctors, hospitals and clinics all under federal control. The public is split up approximately 50/50 when it comes to this issue; some people prefer nationalized health care, and others simply like the way it is right now.