Universal healthcare could be useful in more ways than one. With more than half a million jobs lost in America in November (the biggest decline in a single month in more than thirty years), the country is in dire straights. Nearly 7% of the nation is wholly unemployed, and a total of 12.5% are either unemployed or barely working. That’s 19.3 million Americans who have little or no work.
The incoming administration is preparing a stimulus package to be introduced in the New Year, intended to get the economy ticking over again by investing billions in infrastructure. The package may include upgrading school buildings, upgrading public buildings to improve energy efficiency, building of bridges and roads, extending the reach of broadband internet, and improving electronic record keeping for medical billing.
What About Healthcare?
But what about healthcare reform? The much-touted universal healthcare program doesn’t top the to-do list – but should it? Developing universal healthcare as part of the economic stimulus package could have many beneficial effects. Economic stimulation is only the tip of the iceberg – overall, American citizens would enjoy improved financial security, and just as important, the barriers to that much-needed healthcare reform would finally start coming down.
America’s healthcare problems are impossible to ignore. The country spends 16% of gross domestic products on healthcare – more than any other in the world. But despite this, America lags far behind in life expectancy (#48) and infant mortality (#29). Nearly 40 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2007, and that figure is likely to be very much higher now.
Given all these problems, it’s easy to see why universal healthcare could be just what the doctor ordered. With a universal healthcare program in place, every citizen under the age of 65 would be insured, either through a qualified company, or via a government-sponsored insurance program (over-65s are already covered by Medicare).
The Uninsured in America
In the short term, universal coverage would provide an excellent and much-needed boost to the country’s economy. Increasing numbers of people are having trouble paying their medical bills (or accrued medical debts), and in 2007, some 116 million were either uninsured, had problems paying medical bills, or had to forgo medical treatment due to the cost.
And these are average, ordinary Americans – Main Street, not Wall Street. Targeting healthcare as an economic stimulus measure would benefit ordinary, average workers and help relieve one of the most pressing problems for people who lost their jobs during the past year.
There are problems, of course, not the least of which is the cost – an estimated $160 billion a year, and an additional $100 to $200 billion just to set the program up. And this might not turn out to be a long-term solution. But as far as solutions go, it’s hard to see that new bridges and roads are any better – and perhaps the most significant benefit of using healthcare reforms is that the people who benefit the most are this country’s citizens.
photo credit: yosoynuts