CJ Pearson Breaks Down Left Versus Right on Healthcare: Free Government Care or Free Market Competition
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CJ Pearson Breaks Down Left Versus Right on Healthcare: Free Government Care or Free Market Competition
CJ Pearson examines the fundamental divide between left and right on healthcare policy. The left views healthcare as a human right that government should provide through taxation, supporting systems like Obamacare to ensure universal coverage. The right argues for minimal government involvement, believing competition between private providers drives down costs and improves quality. Pearson explores key points of contention including insurance costs, wait times, accountability, and whether young healthy people should subsidize older populations. With concrete examples comparing U.S. and Canadian systems, this analysis cuts through political rhetoric to reveal the core philosophical differences shaping America's healthcare debate.
Nobody wants people to needlessly suffer from treatable illnesses or injuries, and no one wants someone ruined because of unforeseen catastrophic medical bills. The difference in opinion is how to achieve that goal.
The Left's Position: Healthcare as a Human Right
For the left, healthcare is a human right and therefore should be provided to every citizen by the government. They say that everyone has a shared responsibility for everyone else, so the cost should be shared by everyone through taxation. Those who have more—the wealthy—should pay more.
That is why the left supports the Affordable Care Act, which has become known as Obamacare after the president who introduced it, Barack Obama. It greatly expanded the role of government in healthcare, creating a marketplace designed to make healthcare more affordable for everyone.
The Right's Critique of Government Healthcare
Those on the right point out that Obamacare more than doubled health insurance costs for workers and families, with the national average premium increasing by 129% from 2013 to 2019. The right says that people should pay for their own healthcare and the government should play a minimal role. This promotes competition between healthcare providers and drives down medical costs. Only when someone is truly unable to afford healthcare should the government step in.
The Promise Versus Reality of Universal Healthcare
The left says that if everyone had free healthcare, everyone would be healthier and costs would come down. The right challenges this because there aren't any examples where this has actually worked.
Canada has universal healthcare and costs have gone up while quality has gone down. For example, the average wait time to get an MRI in Canada is three months. In the U.S., you can get one in a day.
Quality and Wait Times Debate
The left says that long wait times for government-run healthcare may happen, but that the quality of the treatment will not be affected. Everyone will at least get the same quality of care, even if wait times are long.
But the right says if the government takes over healthcare, who is accountable when things go wrong? In a competitive situation, healthcare providers are subject to lawsuits, reputational damage, and the subsequent loss of business. But when the government is in control, the consumer has nowhere to turn.
Individual Choice Versus Collective Responsibility
The right believes there will be a better outcome if people are allowed to choose the healthcare services they want and the providers who can best meet their needs. A 25-year-old is likely to have fewer health issues than a 55-year-old, therefore the 25-year-old's policy should be much less expensive.
The left counters by claiming that sure, young people are subsidizing the system, but when they get older someone will subsidize them, and that is only fair.
The Bottom Line
The left wants healthcare to be paid for through taxes and administered by the government. They believe that if young and healthy people pay into the healthcare system through taxes, older and sick people will be able to have their expensive care covered.
The right believes that through competition, the private sector provides more options and faster access for more people than a government-run program ever could. They believe while there are instances when a person might need government assistance for medical treatment, this should only be a last resort.
