Why health insurance should be free?
Asked by: Marta Sanford | Last update: October 30, 2025Score: 4.6/5 (8 votes)
Why should healthcare be free?
Universal single-payer healthcare is fundamental to pandemic preparedness. We determined that such a system could have saved 211,897 lives in 2020 alone. Strikingly, it would have done so at lower cost than the current healthcare system, saving the US $459 billion in 2020 at a time of economic tumult.
Why should free healthcare be a human right?
The very frailty of our human lives demands that we protect this right as a public good. Universal health care is crucial to the ability of the most marginalized segments of any population to live lives of dignity. Without our health we—literally—do not live, let alone live with dignity.
Why should healthcare be free market?
Healthcare regulations at all levels of government can increase price, limit choice, and stifle competition—which, in combination, lead U.S. healthcare to fail to provide its full value. These regulations can also harm the broader economy.
Why do people not pay for health insurance?
Lack of access to affordable health coverage is the main reason many people say they are uninsured. A majority of working age adults in the U.S. obtain health insurance through an employer; however, not all workers are offered employer-sponsored coverage or, if offered, can afford their share of the premiums.
The real reason American health care is so expensive
What happens in America if you can't afford healthcare?
Americans are no longer taxed for not carrying health insurance. Medical debt contributes to a large number of bankruptcies in America. Access to quality primary care is critical, but doctors have the right to refuse patients without insurance or who are able to pay out-of-pocket expenses.
Is it better to have health insurance or pay out of pocket?
People without insurance pay, on average, twice as much for care. This means when you use a network provider you pay less for the same services than someone who doesn't have coverage – even before you meet your deductible.
How is free healthcare better for the economy?
In contrast, a universal, publicly financed health care system that provides free access at the point of care generates both aggregate savings and redistributive impacts. It flips who pays for health care: those who make more pay more. How big this equity effect is depends on the progressivity of the financing design.
Why is it important to have affordable healthcare?
Affordability impacts whether people can get the care they need, like insulin to manage their diabetes or following up on a mammogram. If those are too costly, people will delay or skip care, which has significant impacts down the line on both health outcomes and cost.
What is one important advantage of a free market?
Advantages of this market system include efficient resource allocation, competition, innovation, and product variety. Sellers in a free market have a right to adjust prices to match the demand for their products. Further, consumers are allowed to decide where they will spend their money.
Should Americans have the right to free healthcare?
To offer equal opportunity, all Americans need comparable or fair access to health care and education. Children without viable opportunities for both are disadvantaged from birth. Inequality inherently leads to opportunities lost, poverty, and often compromises on moral principles to access basic necessities.
Why is healthcare so expensive?
There are many factors that contribute to the high cost of healthcare in the country including wasteful systems, rising drug costs, medical professional salaries, profit-driven healthcare centers, types of medical practices, and health-related pricing.
What countries don't have free healthcare?
With notably high healthcare costs, the USA provides government programmes to help the disabled, old people and other vulnerable demographics. Other countries with no free healthcare include Nigeria, Yemen, South Africa, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.
Why should health care be a human right?
The right to health for all people means that everyone should have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without suffering financial hardship. No one should get sick and die just because they are poor, or because they cannot access the health services they need.
How does lack of insurance affect health care?
Lack of health insurance coverage may negatively affect health. Uninsured adults are less likely to receive preventive services for chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
What country has the best healthcare?
According to the 2024 Mirror, Mirror report, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have the best healthcare systems, though the differences in overall performance among most countries are relatively small.
Why free healthcare should be a thing?
UHC allows countries to make the most of their strongest asset: human capital. Supporting health represents a foundational investment in human capital and in economic growth—with good health, children can attend school and eventually reach their full potential, while adults are able to lead productive healthy lives.
Do we really need health insurance?
The main reason why health insurance is important is it helps you get the care you need—even if it's basic preventive care—at a price you can afford.
Why is insurance important?
Insurance plans are beneficial to anyone looking to protect their family, assets/property and themselves from financial risk/losses: Insurance plans will help you pay for medical emergencies, hospitalisation, contraction of any illnesses and treatment, and medical care required in the future.
How would free healthcare help the poor?
Poverty-Reducing Effects of Public Health Insurance. By reducing the financial burden and risk of medical spending, public health insurance has the potential to reduce the extent to which families live in poverty, as defined using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM).
Why is making healthcare affordable important?
Rising health care costs both contribute to our federal deficit and reduce our ability to spend in other important areas, including education, housing, and economic development.
How does health insurance affect the economy?
With health insurance, people can access medical services more promptly, reducing productivity losses due to illness, contributing to the overall productivity of society, and promoting economic development (15).
Is it better to not pay for health insurance?
Health insurance provides important financial protection in case you have a serious accident or sickness. People without health coverage are exposed to these costs. This can sometimes lead people without coverage into deep debt or even into bankruptcy.
Why is expensive healthcare a problem?
Important factors underlying the price problem include high levels of health care industry consolidation coupled with limited oversight of prices, and the high degree of administrative complexity in our U.S. health care system.
Is it cheaper to go without health insurance?
Uninsured families pay for a higher proportion of their total health care costs out of pocket than do insured families, however, and are more likely to have high medical expenses relative to income (IOM, 2002b).