Citizen Works - Issues

The Need For Universal Health Care

Over 40 million Americans possess no health insurance at all, even with the U.S. currently spending a higher percentage of its GDP per capita on health care than any other industrialized country. The American Medical Student Association illustrates the reasons why the U.S. should pursue a model of universal coverage:

· "Currently the United States spends approximately $1,000 per capita on administrative costs, or around 22% of our total health-care expenditures. Canada spends only $250 per capita on administrative costs, or 11% of its total health care expenditures.

· If we adopt a single payer system, and bring down our administrative costs, we could redirect that money towards the uninsured. The General Accounting Office predicted that a single-payer system would free 100 billion dollars. This money would be enough to insure the uninsured and supplement the policies of the under-insured (patients with large co-payments or deductibles).

· Since the United States spends nearly twice as much as Canada on health care, we would be able to eliminate waiting times that Canadians experience.

· A single-payer system would offer care according to need rather than ability to pay."

- American Medical Student Association (AMSA) [source]

For more information on this and other issues, visit American Medical Student Association (AMSA) on the Internet.