Question

Write a 1200 words research paper using a minimum of five different sources on -Healthcare crisis-Most developed nations have universal health coverage. Why doesn’t the U.S., the wealthiest nation, have it?.

Use proper MLA parenthetical citation and prepare a “Works Cited” page.

Answer 1

No. 1: We Don't Want It

One key reason is the unique political culture in America. As a nation that began on the back of immigrants with an entrepreneurial spirit and without a feudal system to ingrain a rigid social structure, Americans are more likely to be individualistic.

In other words, Americans, and conservatives in particular, have a strong belief in classical liberalism and the idea that the government should play a limited role in society. Given that universal coverage inherently clashes with this belief in individualism and limited government, it is perhaps not surprising that it has never been enacted in America even as it has been enacted elsewhere.

Public opinion certainly supports this idea. Survey research conducted by the International Social Survey Program has found that a lower percentage of Americans believe health care for the sick is a government responsibility than individuals in other advanced countries like Canada, the U.K., Germany or Sweden.

No. 2: Interest Groups Don't Want It

Even as American political culture helps to explain the health care debate in America, culture is far from the only reason America lacks universal coverage. Another factor that has limited debate about national health insurance is the role of interest groups in influencing the political process. The legislative battle over the content of the ACA, for example, generated $1.2 billion in lobbying in 2009 alone.

The insurance industry was a key player in this process, spending over $100 million to help shape the ACA and keep private insurers, as opposed to the government, as the key cog in American health care.

Recent reports suggest that lobbyists are already preparing to fight a potential "public option" under the ACA. Should any attempt at comprehensive national health insurance ever be made, lobbyists would certainly mobilize to prevent its implementation.

No. 3: Entitlement Programs Are Hard in General to Enact

A third reason America lacks universal health coverage and the 2016 candidates have avoided the topic altogether is that America's political institutions make it difficult for massive entitlement programs to be enacted. As policy experts have pointed out in studies of the U.S. health system, the country doesn't "have a comprehensive national health insurance system because American political institutions are structurally biased against this kind of comprehensive reform."

The political system is prone to inertia and any attempt at comprehensive reform must pass through the obstacle course of congressional committees, budget estimates, conference committees, amendments and a potential veto while opponents of reform publicly bash the bill.