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American Border Security
Jacob A. Krueger
POLS210 American Government I
Instructor: Dr. Thomas Kelly
10 July 2021
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American Border Security
As the United States of America is striving to give life back to their economy more and
more each day, there is still a concern with the healthcare of the American people as the country
is healing from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Healthcare costs are continuously on a rise each year,
and with Americans out of work still due to the pandemic, some are fearful that they will be
without medical coverage or insurance.
Many Americans and some politicians feel that a free,
universal healthcare system is the answer to the nation’s problem, one that all citizens and
visitors will and can be covered for free.
At what cost and feasibility would this come to the
American people?
The ever-growing increase in the cost of medical care should be the focus behind a free
universal healthcare system in America.
With the cost of healthcare rising, and the drastic drop
in unemployment over the past year due to the pandemic, many Americans would like to have
their healthcare needs addressed with a solution from the United States government.
“US
healthcare statistics report that hospitalizations in the United States are expensive.
In particular,
the $20,246 cost of treatment for a heart attack seems almost reasonable, considering that getting
patched up when you’ve broken a lower limb costs $16,796.” (Djordjevic, 2021) In this same
article it goes on to explain that 62.1% of all bankruptcies in America are caused by high medical
bills.
If the root cause of bankruptcies in America are majority caused by high medical bills, that
the patient can not afford, then the simple answer would be a free healthcare system.
With the
implementation of universal healthcare, comes more focus and research on major health
concerns.
“Perhaps the most striking advantage of a universal healthcare system in the U.S. is
the potential to address the epidemic level of non-communicable chronic diseases such as
cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, and obesity, all of which strain the national economy.”
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(Zieff, 2020) Now, on the contrary, a free universal healthcare system, does not always mean that
it comes free of price.
When systems that are labeled as free to the American public, always
must be paid for in some way shape or form.
Raising taxes is the easiest way for the American
government to increase the spending budget for a healthcare system that would appear free to the
American people.
The American people would not feel as if they were paying for their
healthcare system, simply because the payment would not come as a bill, but rather just an
increase of annual taxes, which could potentially become a higher and higher percentage given
your yearly salary.
“One proposal for universal healthcare recently pushed included options such
as a 7.5% payroll tax plus a 4% income tax on all Americans, with higher-income citizens
subjected to higher taxes” (Zieff, 2020) This article also goes on to explain that these tax
proposals have the potential to increase the economic debt by 12 trillion dollars in a span of ten
years.
This tax increase is one of the biggest drawbacks of a free universal healthcare system
and why it receives so much disapproval.
For an American universal healthcare system to become a law, it must start off as a bill
and go through the correct legal steps called the classic legislative process.
Legislation will
typically begin at a local level.
The state government will hear its constituents concerns about an
issue regarding how the current healthcare system is affecting them.
It then becomes the states
responsibility to listen to potential solutions and/or draft legislation to correct or eliminate the
concern.
Once legislation has been agreed upon, the state will typically propose that solution on
a federal level.
Regarding healthcare from a federal level, the House of Representatives will
draft a bill in hopes of receiving bipartisan support to advance to the Senate. Bills that require tax
revenue, like most universal healthcare proposals, must originate through the House due to
Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution. (Krutz, 2021) Also Congress is not obligated to follow
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American Border Security
the advice of each chamber’s parliamentarian.
Once a bill has majority support from the House,
it advances to the Senate where amendments can be made to receive majority support to sign the
bill into law.
There have been attempts over the past ten years for a bill, such as free universal
healthcare, to come into law.
The closest thing that has been approved through all three branches
of government was under President Obama called the Affordable Care Act, which is the current
American healthcare system.
There are many pros and cons for a free universal healthcare system in the United States
of America.
Universal healthcare is often referred to as a free system, meaning free of charge to
the American people, but it is really a healthcare system that is put into place and either
subsidized or paid for by the American government and its taxpayers.
Due to the classic
legislative process, and the exception that a bill that increases revenue must originate in the
House, there is more push back to make such a bill into law.
Ultimately, this type of law must
originate and be approved by the American people.
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References
Djordjevic, N. (2021, February 19). 34 Eye-Opening Healthcare Statistics to Know in 2021.
Retrieved from
https://medalerthelp.org/blog/healthcare-statistics/
Krutz, G. (n.d.). 11.5 the legislative process - American Government 2e. Retrieved June 27,
2021, from https://openstax.org/books/american-government-2e/pages/11-5-the-legislative-
process
Zieff, G., Kerr, Z., Moore, J., & Stoner, L. (2020, October 30). Universal healthcare in the United
states of America: A healthy debate. Retrieved June 27, 2021, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7692272/
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