The Disadvantages of Socialized Medicine essays

The Disadvantages of Socialized Medicine essays The topic of this paper is how socialized healthcare has disadvantages. Socialized healthcare is in the news today and is proposed by some leaders in both parties of Congress as the answer to insurance and health crises that are becoming apparent in the democratic system in the United States. Unemployment and inflation have made it impossible for many to afford private insurance and it is increasingly becoming the norm for businesses from large corporations to small businesses to not offer their employees health insurance. Today a bill to fund health insurance for underprivileged children is being debated in both houses and the President of the United States has threatened to veto it if it passes. Many people are for some sort of socialized healthcare today, but though the trend appears to be going that direction, there are factors that might be detrimental which must be considered before socialized healthcare becomes the norm. One must conclude that should socialized healthcare beco me part of the governmental system, there would be a few disadvantages that might outweigh its benefits. Great Britain is one nation which has had a National Health Service (NHS) since 1948. This initial experiment was more costly that predicted, the system was overloaded so that one in eight patients waited for over a year for treatment (Carvel, 2007, 2), the drugs administered were limited or unavailable for those who needed them, and the facilities were not up to par (Kelland, 2006, 1). Problems continue to plague the British health system, with government officials skimming funds and research lagging. One of the United States nearest neighbors, Canada, has enjoyed the Canada Health Act since 1984, when it established a publicly-financed, single-payer system and outlawed private health insurance. Although most Canadians approve of their public health system, there are problems such as long waits for specialized surgeries (Duff-Brown 1). Another...