Healthy Nation

I live in a relatively healthy nation, and that's for a large part due to the fact that my nation, The Netherlands, has a single-payer healthcare system. This means that no one is denied healthcare when they need it, no one has to go bankrupt to get it. So why doesn't the richest country in the history of the world have universal healthcare?

_{source: YouTube}

Let me ask my American friends this question: wouldn't you also like to live in a country where everyone's assured access to necessary healthcare? I think most of you would, and this is affirmed by all the polls I've ever seen on the subject: even almost half of the Republican voters would prefer some form of single payer healthcare. This is no surprise, because in almost all other developed nations this is the case and they all provide better healthcare outcomes while paying less. It's a no-brainer. Why then are there still millions upon millions of Americans who vote against something as obviously beneficial as universal healthcare? Let me have a stab at it.

For one, the American people are uniquely individualistic. The nation was started by European immigrants with an entrepreneurial spirit and without a prior feudal system to ingrain a rigid social structure. This means that Americans, conservatives in particular, believe strongly that government should play a minimal role in the lives of its citizens. Universal coverage represents the opposite of that deeply embedded belief, and clashes with widespread opinions on personal responsibility. Add to that the highly propagandized "Red Scare", and you arrive at the often heard notion that universal healthcare is communism. It's hard for me, as a socialist and as someone who grew up in a country with universal healthcare, to sympathize with that mentality, but I can recognize where its roots lie.

Another historical reason, and this one may come as a surprise, is racism. I'll quote Evelynn Hammonds, a historian of science at Harvard University: There has never been any period in American history where the health of blacks was equal to that of whites. (source) And again, this should come as no surprise as African Americans have a disadvantage in almost all social indicators. Most obvious should be that in a healthcare system that's rationed by income and wealth, poorer segments of the population, in which blacks are still over-represented, will have poorer health. But what I did not know, and what's discussed in the short video I've linked below, is that racism was the cause of America not getting universal healthcare in two occasions in its history. At one point the idea was that the African Americans would die out if only they were denied healthcare...

The first western country to adopt universal healthcare was Prussia before it became Germany under Otto von Bismarck:

The first move towards a national health insurance system was launched in Germany in 1883, with the Sickness Insurance Law. Industrial employers were mandated to provide injury and illness insurance for their low-wage workers, and the system was funded and administered by employees and employers through "sick funds", which were drawn from deductions in workers' wages and from employers' contributions. This social health insurance model, named the Bismarck Model after Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, was the first form of universal care in modern times.
_{source: Wikipedia}

This trend was soon followed by other western European countries. And still the countries with the best healthcare outcomes are found here. Take a look at the 10 Healthiest Countries in the World in 2020, and the Bloomberg Global Health Index of Healthiest Countries 2023; both rank Spain as the world's healthiest country and both indicate western Europe as the healthiest region in the world. I don't think I'm going out on a limb by claiming that this has something to do with the fact that we have the longest history with universal healthcare...

Watch the short conversation linked below, especially if you live in America and are still opposed to universal healthcare; maybe it will change your mind. Also watch the first video that debunks many of the usual arguments levied against universal- or single-payer healthcare; you'll find that most are easily debunked. If you're a reader, you can also check out RACE, MEDICINE, AND HEALTH CARE IN THE UNITED STATES: A HISTORICAL SURVEY.

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