Universally Expensive

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Health care prices are rising, and so are people's concerns about the quality and availability of care. Everyone seems to be jumping on the universal health care wagon with the promise that free health care will be provided. However, many people are uninformed about what exactly universal health care is. This is similar to the situation in Animal Farm by George Orwell, because the animals were not informed about their care, and ended up being shipped away when they couldn’t work anymore instead of taken care of. Universal health care is the less desirable option, because it would spike up taxes and degrade the health care system and in addition, unnecessary because companies are fixing the problems on their own. Nothing is actually free; the money must come from somewhere, and in this case it is taxes. Canada has elected to centralize their health care system, thereby putting the government in one hundred percent control of the health insurance industry. This may sound sublime, and it would be if Canadians did not pay sky-high taxes that are becoming unaffordable. Nadeem Esmail, author of “Free Health Care in Canada Costs More Than It’s Worth”, provides statistics for the amount that Canadians pay for their “free” health care. He explained, “In 2013, a typical Canadian family of four can expect to pay $11,320 for public health care insurance”. This price is insanely high; however the Canadians are forced to pay it because they don’t have another option for healthcare. As if this is not enough, Esmail provides the staggering growth pattern of the cost. He mentions that the cost is growing “…nearly 1.5 times faster than the growth in average income over the decade”. Esmail explains that if this trend continues, the price of health... ... middle of paper ... ...tle information about their healthcare, and ended up paying for it in the end when they had no contol over what happened to them when they got sick. What the general public does not understand, is that by enacting “free” healthcare, they will pay dearly, for underperforming care and long waiting lists, creating a worse situation than before. Works Cited Cannon, Michael, and Michael Tanner. "Universal Healthcare's Dirty Little Secrets." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 05 Apr. 2007. Web. 15 Feb. 2014. Esmail, Nadeem. "'Free' Health Care in Canada Costs More Than It's Worth | Nadeem Esmail." The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, July-Aug. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. "2007: steady growth, enhanced consumerism."Consumer Driven Healthcare Jan. 2008: 1+. Academic OneFile. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1954. Print.

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