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pockets and also because a lot of physicians will not accept a patient that does not have health insurance. So, the patient goes to the emergency room and never pays the bill, because sometimes it is the only option of care. This is a common occurrence which causes huge economic losses.

In addition to the losses created by unpaid emergency room bills are lost days of work by people unable to receive adequate medical care. The loss created by this situation reaches far and wide; from the employer loss of productivity and revenue, to the employee loss of income, and finally to the general loss to the national economy due to lost consumer spending. Despite all of the above being true, there are huge obstacles standing in the way of universal health care.

Insurance companies spend billions of dollars lobbying to protect their interests. Doctors are given incentives from the insurance companies for limiting time spent with each patient to maximize income. Drug companies spend billions of dollars promoting their newest, most expensive medicines. If, all of a sudden these billions were to disappear it would make those reaping the benefits of these billions of dollars very unhappy. Under a universal health care system, these conditions would not exist because medicine would revert to being a means for sick people to receive health care and would no longer be the cash cow that it is today.

There is also the issue of increased taxes to fund a national health care system. While this is a very real issue and concern, it would be one circumstance in which we would know that our tax dollars were being spent on something worthwhile. As it stands now, our tax dollars pay for wars, for overpriced items and services provided to our government buildings and officials, and on foreign aid. While I cannot say anything negative about foreign aid, I also think more of our tax dollars should be put to use in domestic aid.

If universal health care were put into place it could lead to positive change in many of the systems which most Americans view as broken. If citizens were guaranteed the right to quality medical care it would create a more productive society. Our current welfare system creates a huge problem in that a lot of welfare recipients would lose their medical care if they were to attain employment, even though the job may only pay minimum wage and not offer health insurance. This causes a lot of welfare recipients to stay on it even though they would rather work. This in itself is enough to give universal health care a very close look, because of the general economic growth that would be created as a result of millions of people returning to the work force. Despite some of the difficulties created by the system, it still appears to be a win win situation.

Learn more about this author, Tracy A. Moore.
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