by F.M

Created on: May 30, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

Canada has it and the French love it. What is it? Its universal health care and the United States doesn't want to jump on that bandwagon just yet. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton alluded to the idea of universalizing health care; but, the debate has even its biggest supporters weary. "You can't put a price on life" they say. So why do Americans hyperventilate when the words "universal health care" is uttered?

It's the taxes. People fear that a universal health care system would increase taxes. Universal health care, in any country, is expensive. European countries, including Canada, spend a considerable part of their gross domestic product (GDP) on health care. Health care spending accounted for 10.9 percent of the GDP in Switzerland, 10.7 percent in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The money required to fit the cost of this kind of enterprise should not make Americans jump to conclusions. The cost of the current health care system in America is much higher...and that's with no government-owned medical facility opened to the public! According to the National Coalition on Health care, total spending on health care was of $2.4 TRILLION in 2007, or $7900 per person. They also add that the United States' total health care spending represented 17 percent of the GDP. To add insult to injury, the National Coalition on Health Care reports that 46 millions of Americans are uninsured; yet, America spends more money on health care than any other industrialized nation.

Furthermore, even with $2.4 trillion dollars spent on health care, the United States is not the healthiest nation in the world. The World Health Organization ranked America's health care system at 37...just behind Costa Rica but out-beaten by countries like Colombia, Israel and Morocco. There are several reasons for this. America's health care system runs through private corporations forcing Americans to purchase health insurance from various insurance companies. Since health is capitalized, Americans can shop for insurance company. They can choose the health care provider and/or insurance company that can satisfy their needs and their wallets. But does that equate to quality?

That's another thing: the quality of it all. Many argue that if health care is universalized, the quality of the care will decrease. Since the government must pay the bills for millions of government-owned medical

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