Universal Health Care: Analyzing the Medicare for All Legislative Bill

This essay examines the Medicare for All proposal, a legislative bill drafted in pursuit of universal health care in the United States. It highlights the current issues of inequality in access to quality healthcare, affecting various demographic groups. The bill, proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, aims to enroll all Americans in a public insurance system, addressing the 12% of uninsured citizens. The analysis delves into the socio-economic, political, cultural, and ethical considerations surrounding the bill, including healthcare disparities, the upcoming mid-term election, and individual responsibility for health. It identifies key stakeholders, such as citizens and the government, and concludes that Medicare for All has the potential to remedy disparities in healthcare provision by taxing higher-income earners to cover medical expenses for those less privileged. The essay references scholarly articles to support its analysis of the bill and its potential impact.

Universal Health Care-Medicare-
for-All
Name
Institution

Introduction
Universal health care is a current issue
raising serious concerns in the US (Welch,
2016)
Reason:
 US has one of the highest inequalities in
access to quality healthcare
Manifestation in different demographic
dimensions like;
- race, ethnicity, geographical location,
disability status, gender and sexual orientation

Current Legislative Issue
Bill: Medicare-for-All in September (2017)
Proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders
Aim:
 It seeks to enroll all Americans on a public
insurance system
 correct the imbalance in the uninsured
Americans which stands at 12%

The Most Affected Persons
Most affected group include;
 High income earning citizens: high tax
 Doctors
 Healthcare Providers (Seidman, 2013)
The legislation proposes that the publicly
financed but privately delivered healthcare
shall be funded by taxing every working
citizen

Socio-economic Issues
These include;
 Healthcare disparities: manifest between
population groups in their abilities to access
quality health services and medical insurance
(Welch, 2016)
Results: increased burden of disease for the
disadvantaged population (Tillow 2012).

Political Issues
The political issues here include;
 Upcoming mid-term election
 The bill is a political compromise between
Democrats and Republicans
 It was proposed by an independent senator

Cultural and Ethical Issues
These include;
 Entitlement to public money
 Health is an individual responsibility
 Patients often take free health services for
granted

Stakeholders
They include;
 The citizens- tax payers
 The government; involvement comes with
the elimination of administrative costs from
which the healthcare providers have for a
long time been making money

Conclusion
The Medicare-for-all is a bill drafted in
pursuit of universal healthcare
It is still a subject to debate since 2017
it has potential to remedy the disparities in
healthcare provision by taxing the rich more
to pay for the medical expenses of the poor.

References
Seidman, L. (2013). The Affordable Care Act
versus Medicare for All. Journal of Health
Politics, Policy & Law, 40(4), 911–921. https://
doi.org/10.1215/03616878-3150160
Tillow, K. (2012). The solution: improved
Medicare for All. Massachusetts Nurse
Advocate, 83(4), 2. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=t
rue&db=aph&AN=83055372&site=ehost-live
Welch, M. (2016). Bernie’s Bad Ideas. Reason,
47(12), 32–40. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=t
rue&db=aph&AN=113930371&site=ehost-live