With the advent of the 21st century, many countries across the world began taking a more liberal approach towards politics, prioritizing human rights and freedom. Issues that were once deemed ridiculous or obscure were being discussed more seriously, and it was evident that the world was heading towards a freer, more liberal society.
The fall of communism in Eastern Europe took a significant toll on international politics in general, more specifically, it greatly influenced the overall regional agenda. Countries such as Poland, Romania, Russia and Latvia all began transitioning into a pro-western regime, but aspects of socialism still remained, with these countries keeping social services such as education and healthcare virtually free.
How does this relate to the daily contemporary life of an average North Penn student? The United States is the only developed western country without a universal healthcare system, but spends more on healthcare than any other country, according to the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. 27.1 million Americans lack any type of health insurance, accounting for roughly 8.2% of the population. To put that into perspective, at any given time, roughly 261 North Penn students lack healthcare, meaning that if they were to suffer any conditions requiring medical intervention, they would have to pay ridiculously massive costs.
How can these problems exist if the US spends roughly 4.1% of its national budget on healthcare? The main issue is the economical significance, and the governmental view on healthcare. Monopolization is evident in many different economical fields, and healthcare is no exception. The mass privatization of healthcare has turned it into a for profit ‘business industry’ with unregulated insurance companies putting unrealistic and outright economically inefficient prices on many different medications.
A prime example of this is Insulin, a necessary medication for people with diabetes. Novolin N, a type of insulin, would cost an American without health insurance around $166.99 a vial, according to singlecare.com. Novolin N typically costs around $3 – $6 to produce, according to NBC News, earning pharmaceutical companies a profit of 2,783%. This shows just how monopolized and profited the healthcare industry truly is. Big companies such as Aetna and Johnson & Johnson set unreasonably high prices in order to make profit off of people’s diseases and conditions.
The for-profit and monopolized state of healthcare should be a national shame. Spending 4.1% of the national budget, but still having a dysfunctional and inaccessible healthcare system truly highlights the modern issues with American politics. But if it’s such a significant issue, then why hasn’t it been addressed or resolved?
The reason for this is simply put, economical inequality. Installing a universal healthcare system in the United States would imply a significant burden on the insurance and pharmaceutical companies that intentionally monopolized the industry in favor of personal profit. I do not advocate for a complete removal of privatized healthcare, rather the reduction and increased regulation of it.
Private healthcare should be an option for citizens, if they desire to pay for it; however, public healthcare should become the priority. Under article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations states:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control,” Section 1, Article 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Intentionally not providing universal health care for your citizens in favor of corporate profit is a direct violation of human rights. I advocate for the implementation of universal health care in the United States, and I believe that my opinion is not just representative of the working class, but of every single person living in the United States. It’s as if, by defeating communism, we let capitalism take over what we truly valued.