Statement: The United States should have a national health insurance program.

What’s in the news?

Go to the following website for a report on the revival of the debate about universal health care - http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1216/p02s01-uspo.html.

What do the experts say?

“The United States is one of the only major industrial countries in the world that does not have universal, government-paid medical programs for residents. Currently, the United States distributes health care by the ability to pay -- the most common strategy is medical insurance. Public opinion surveys reveal that people in the United States favor a fundamental change in our health care system. Advocates of change argue that a single-payer plan would be most desirable: a tax-supported program in which the government is the sole insurer. Such a plan is strongly opposed by the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest association of physicians, arguing that the government should not intrude in the professional lives of physicians. The single-payer model is also opposed by the health insurance industry, for obvious reasons.“

What do you think?

Note down your answers to the following questions and discuss them in class.

1. Do you believe that the United States should have a national health care policy? Why or why not? Do you have third-party health-care insurance? If so, do you think this influences your position on this issue?
2. Why have organizations like the APA opposed a national health care policy? What about health care insurance companies?

Where do you stand?

Now you’ve had a chance hear other people’s views, take the Online Poll.

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