Universal Health Care-Medicare-for-All

Running head: UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE-MEDICARE-FOR-ALL
Universal Health Care-Medicare-for-All
Name
Institution

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE-MEDICARE-FOR-ALL 2
Introduction
Universal health care is currently an issue of public debate and a serious concern in the
US. This is owed to the fact that the US despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the
world, has one of the highest inequalities in access to quality healthcare. These disparities exist
in different population groups in the country. It is manifested across different demographic
dimensions such as race, ethnicity, geographical location, disability status, gender and sexual
orientation. The Medicare-for-All bill has been proposed as redress for these issues. This paper
presents the political, socioeconomic and cultural-ethical issues around the Medicare debate and
what it portends for stakeholders in the process.
Current Legislative Issue
Bernie Sanders proposed the Medicare-for-All bill in September 2017. According to
Friedman (2017), Medicare-for-All sought by the bill is a system where all Americans benefit
from privately offered health services that are financed by the public coffers. It seeks to enroll all
Americans on a public insurance system, hence correct the imbalance in the uninsured
Americans which stands at 12%. In this proposed plan, no deductibles are allowed; opting out is
exclude too. According to Gresham (2017) healthcare disparities matter because disparities in
healthcare provision do not just affect the disadvantaged groups alone; they hinder the collective
gains made towards achieving better health care for the entire population and in effect, increases
the burden of healthcare through unnecessary costs. Particularly, the low income earners and the
people of color record the highest numbers of persons with no health insurance or are under-

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE-MEDICARE-FOR-ALL 3
insured. These disparities in healthcare have characterized the conversation around universal
healthcare and are the principal reasons for which it is sought.
The Most Affected Persons
The most affected by this proposed healthcare are the high income earning citizens and
the healthcare providers and doctors. The legislation proposes that the publicly financed but
privately delivered healthcare shall be funded by taxing every working citizen and pooling the
resources to a common public insurance plan (Seidman 2013). High income earners will be taxed
higher to pay for the health services of the low income earners, the underinsured and the
uninsured. The common practice world over with single payer health insurance systems (like the
proposed Medicare-for-All) is that healthcare is paid for by the working population.
In the US case, the bill proposes to implement the plan through a combination of
strategies: compulsory health insurance and taxation. The contention of the high income earners
with this approach comes two-fold: firstly, they do not need a compulsory health insurance cover
because they can afford to pay high premiums for expensive comprehensive health covers
(Seidman 2013). The other contention is that they will have to pay more taxes to the public
health insurance plan to pay for the medical care of others. The healthcare providers in the US
are also going feel the effects of the bill if passed. The healthcare sector in the US has largely
been profit driven for a long time (Longman 2017). The Medicare-for-All bill however will give
the government power to control the cost of medical services both through negotiation and
regulation.