A Closer Look at Universal Healthcare A brief guide to healthcare systems throughout the world
By MARIN THORSEN
B
y now it’s a well-known fact that the United States is the largest U.S. safety net, providing income for the retired stands out among the developed world as the nation and the disabled. that does not guarantee healthcare to its citizens. Then, there are economic rights – material guarantees made Most Americans agree that something needs to to citizens by the government, because it has been deemed for be done about our healthcare system, with its ever-rising costs. one reason or another as a right that everyone should have, So why haven’t we done anything about it yet? Well, there are no matter how rich or poor, old or young, that one might be. many complex reasons: Chiefly, healthcare is a very messy In the United States, we don’t have many economic rights, business. And this truth applies everywhere in the world. save for one critical one for all Americans: universal K-12 It’s safe to say that should American adopt a universal education. healthcare system, chances are it will continue to be a complex However, in a number of nations around the world, there issue in this country. is another right that citizens typically hold: the right to basic In the U.S., the Canadian model of universal healthcare healthcare services. is much discussed and often described as “government-run” The variance in how countries run their healthcare system healthcare. For starters, that language is misleading, for reasons rests primarily on the basis of whether their model is based that will be stated later, on a robust safety net or as an but this is the alternative economic right. In Oregon, there “In the United States, we most advertised to the is a healthcare safety net for the American public. elderly and for those who are low(have the right of) universal Could it be that these K-12 education... However, in income (the federal Medicaidapproaches are really the supported Oregon Health Plan). a number of nations around only two ways healthcare However, this safety net only is run? The quick answer the world... citizens applies to a certain demographic, is no; healthcare policy not for the general population. typically hold the right to is a lot more complicated Meantime, there are basically than that, and America three universal healthcare basic healthcare services.” has other options models used throughout the available. world: the Public Insurance, Single-Payer; and Statutory First, there should be some distinctions made to clear up Insurance (sometimes called Multi-Payer) models. confusion. This is because, perhaps as surprise, there are many countries that feature universal healthcare and yet this is not SINGLE-PAYER MODEL treated technically as a “right.” How does it work? How is this so? Most countries that can afford it have Single-Payer healthcare is an umbrella term for a system programs called safety nets, and economic rights. These two where services are paid for through one entity: the government, terms, while serving similar functions, have key differences funded directly through taxes. Under single-payer, healthcare that must be distinguished. is considered an economic right to all citizens, no matter who Safety nets are programs set up to provide government- they are, whether employed or not. run services to people who meet certain criteria; for example, Just who provides the healthcare services can vary. Some they may be poor, or perhaps old. A good example of a safety governments contract private firms to provide services, and net that people often benefit from is food stamps, where the some will have their health ministry set up a healthcare service government subsidizes certain food purchases. Social Security and the government will then directly provide healthcare to
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