[Image Source] (https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/coronavirus-pandemic-makes-universal-healthcare-more-popular-latest-morning-consult-poll)
This post is in response to a question posed by @lavender22:
Would universal healthcare negatively affect the quality of our healthcare? For example, longer wait times to receive surgery or doctors being paid poorly?
In my opinion, I do believe we may see some instances of reduced quality in healthcare with the integration of a universal system. As seen with any conversion to a universal method of daily living, we see that there is a shift in focus from quality to quantity. In other words, instead of working hard to meet the unique and individual needs of everyone, we become more focused on the amount of people served and the numerical representation of their performances. In fact, this is a clear example of the current state of the public education system, unfortunately. Under Common Core Standards, students are being taught the exact same information in the exact same way day in and day out. Instead of giving students a variety of avenues to express their understanding of different concepts and ideas, we focus solely on their test scores and ability to articulate a very specific set of answers. The act of creating personal connections to curriculum is lost and students are less likely to hold on to this information for long periods of time. I think this could be seen in the medical field as well. As surgical procedures and doctor/patient interactions become more universal, the quality of services begins to diminish. Doctors may be less concerned with the needs of each individual patient and more concerned with their overall turnaround and profit. However, after watching Dr. Flynn’s presentation, it is clear that this potential for downturn is only a byproduct of certain approaches to integrating universal healthcare. Depending on the actions of the government, citizens may be able to have access to affordable healthcare without sacrificing the excellent service they have grown accustomed to. Overall, there is some concern for a diminished quality of services offered with universal healthcare, but it is avoidable if proper precautions are taken and citizens are given competitive options for healthcare.
