by Mark Bearing

Created on: August 31, 2009   Last Updated: September 02, 2009

Single player health care systems have one amazing pro: everyone gets free health care! Yay! The first big con? Everything becomes marginalized. Example; when was the last time anybody heard of Sweden or Canada or Cuba having the number one heart center in the world? or neuro-center, burn center, children's hospital, etc, etc, etc. There is one fact that stands above everything that the media is conveniently leaving out so that politicians can talk of their new plans. And that is that America is the number one health care provider in the world. If there is something wrong with you, it can be fixed in this country.

Subsequently, that is the number one con to a single payer health system. When everyone gets the same care, every provider exists to give standardized care. When all the care is the same, nobody is able to stand out. It is really easy to see the good in universalized single payer health care. The thing people don't want to see is what it costs. As of last year, citizens of Sweden pay 47% income tax. Imagine that for a second; half of everything you earn goes towards the government. Now president Obama says that there will be no new taxes on the middle class. That is all fine and dandy but somebody has to pay for such an incredible system to be put in place. These systems work in Canada and Sweden because their are no extremes. These countries have no super multi-national corporations. They're not on the G8, heck, they wouldn't be on a G30! Countries with successful single payer health systems provide nothing to the world. They provide no foreign aid, they have no foreign debt. When a country has no commitments to anything other than their own welfare, they can provide exactly that. So for all the people out there writing about how great other systems are and how it is possible to do this elsewhere, in places like America, they need to remember, superpowers don't have single payer health care plans. Plain and simple.

Back to the subject of this article though. Yes, in places where universal health care systems are primed to be successful, the benefits are immense. There is no need to go to the emergency room every time your kid runs a high fever. Everyone, rich or poor, is able to go to their own physician for help.

But the cons are still the same. Extreme tax jumps, middle of the road care, and more control over a citizen's life given into the care of the government.

Decide for yourself. But remember, for every right you are provided by your government, a responsibility is placed upon you. These things don't come for free.

Learn more about this author, Mark Bearing.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.