The text mentions that the United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized country in the world. And yet, not all people in the U.S. have health insurance coverage.
As you learned in Chapter 1, the U.S. has the only health care system of industrialized nations that does not provide basic health care coverage to its citizens. There is an ongoing political debate in the U.S. whether health care should be socialized.
To prepare for this Discussion, read the following chapter from your course text, Introduction to U.S. Health Care:
Chapter 4, "Financing the U.S. Health Care System"
The term socialized health care usually refers to any system of medical care that is publicly financed, government administered, or both. Most industrialized countries have some form of socialized health care, except for the U.S.
In this Discussion, question the components of health care financing and provide support for your opinion on whether U.S. health care should be socialized.
Describe what you think is the ideal health care financing model. Support your opinion on the question, "Should U.S. health care be socialized?" Then, answer the following:
Would you support this initiative?
State and elaborate on at least three reasons that reflect your opinion on this question.
How might the components of the U.S. heath care system be different if it were socialized? Who would gain and who would lose with socialized care?