How Might the United States Fund a National Health Care? Research Paper Example

The main way that the United States would be able to fund a national healthcare system would be by creating a national budget that would allow for the expenditures that it would require. Before the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid were the two major government subsidized medical programs. In 2012, these two programs along with the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) amounted to 21 percent of the budget, which came to $732 billion (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2013). This is more money than Canada spent on its universal healthcare program in 2009. In that year, they spent $51 billion on hospital expenses, $30 billion on pharmaceutical expenses, and $26 billion on physician expenses (CBC News, 2009). Therefore, it is important to look towards Canada as a model for a national healthcare system; this country spent less money on their national healthcare system in 2009 than the United States did for Medicare and Medicaid in 2012. This is interesting because Canada’s plan supports all of its citizens, while Medicare and Medicaid provides coverage for only a small percentage.

Although it is important to note that Canada spent slightly more than it appears due to the conversion between Canadian dollars and U.S. dollars, it still spent about a third of what the United States did on their medical programs. It is important to find out why this is the case and if similar protocol can be followed in the United States. Otherwise, it may be necessary for the government to cut from other areas of the budget to ensure that money would be available for a national healthcare system. For example, the defense spending could be cut with the intention of caring for the people in the country before we concern ourselves with violent foreign affairs.

References

CBC News. (2009). Canadian health-care spending to top $180B. Retrieved from cbc.ca/news

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2013). Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go? Retrieved from http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1258