Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Brief ~Stance for Universal Health Care in the United States~


We the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

There should be a universal healthcare system in the United States. This is the preamble of the United States Constitution. Sometimes, the problems in today’s world seem so complicated that we lose ourselves in trying to come up with a solution or answer. This is when we must return to our roots and rediscover our purpose and our values. The Preamble eloquently reveals the purpose and basic values of the United States Government; a government for the people and by the people. One such purpose and value that I wish to draw attention to is, “promote the general welfare.” In order to form a more perfect union we the people who are the government (too often Americans separate government from themselves, but we are the government; we are a democracy are we not?) must promote the general welfare. What is meant by general welfare? The American Heritage Dictionary defines “general” as, “concerned with, applicable to, or affecting the whole or every member of a class or category.” It defines “welfare” as, “the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, etc., of a person, group, or organization.” Therefore, it is safe to say that it is the duty of the United States Government to promote the good health of every member of society. How it, then, that 45.8 million; one out of every six Americans do not have health care insurance? This isn’t even counting the millions more who have very poor coverage. The stereotype is that only lazy people who have made very poor choices in their lives are not insured. The question is then asked, “Why should I have to pay for other people’s mistakes.” Well first of all, I’ve already established that “we the people” have a responsibility to the general welfare. Secondly, statistics show that a whopping 21% of the uninsured are below the age of eighteen.

This may come as a shocker, but the United State’s health care system is not the best in the world. In fact, the World Health Organization in 2000 ranked it 37th. The facts are these:

  • Almost every other major industrialized nation has universal health care. Although a U.S. patient will never be denied treatment in an emergency room, many studies have shown that people without insurance postpone treatment until a minor illness becomes worse which risks their own health and ups the cost in getting well.

  • The U.S. ranks near dead to last in the gap of disparity between rich and poor citizens. Americans with below-average incomes are much less likely than their counterparts in other industrialized nations to see a doctor when sick, to fill prescriptions, or to get needed tests and follow-up care.

  • A universal health care system would be more cost efficient than our current system.

In conclusion, the world’s most powerful economy should be able to provide a health care system that really is the world’s best and the way to do that is by making health care a right, not a commodity and by fulfilling our patriotic pledge to promote the general welfare.

5 comments:

Melissa Magee said...

This argument has some valid points but I feel that overall you skip over a lot of unrealistic ideas about Universal Healthcare. First of all, I really feel that you should fully define what this term means. Although the government is supposed to take care of its population, is 'promoting the general welfare' really going to be accomplished by giving free healthcare? Wouldn't giving the population something to work towards in terms of affording healthcare promote the general welfare in a better way? There is no such thing as a 'free lunch' and Universal Healthcare is unrealistic for that reason; someone is going to be paying in the end. With that said, I feel like some of the points you made are really valid and that improvement to the healthcare plan by the government could solve a lot of these. For example, your statistic that 21% of the uninsured are under the age of 18 is amazing, yet very scary! I think if a plan was put in by the government to help specific problems like these, it would be beneficial and more realistic than Universal Healthcare. Also, in your conclusion you talk about how the United States has the most powerful economy; but do you have evidence to back this up because I am not certain that is a true statement. Hope this helps and was not too harsh!

MR. MILLION said...

Laura,
Once again, the voice in your writing comes through nicely. I encourage you to watch the "coloring" of your text. Like I said in class, use the color as visual aid. As it is now, it detracts from your argument because it is hard to read the dark blue.

The argument itself seems muddied at the beginning. I get the impression you are advocating for the right to health care for all US citizens, but I'm not clear on your approach, or solution, until the very last sentence: "There should be a universal healthcare system in the United States."

Get to your point early in the brief. Save most of the "style" for your final paper. Also, "This" without a noun after it is very confusing. You need to clarify the dangling "this."

April said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
April said...

I think that this a good argument that has a potential to be a great argument. I think that Universal Healthcare is pretty farfetched. I agree with you when you say that the healthcare systam is not perfect, but nothing is really perfect. Overall it is a good topic.

MNRose said...

Okay first of all I do not think the preamble is implying by saying "promote general welfare" to give free health care to everybody. I do think think that supports your argument well. I understand it is supposed to be for the people by the people, but I think that means everybody working together, not the rich getting more to pay for health care of the poor. Although we as people should take care of each other, if we promote free health care more and more people are going to begin relying on the government, and living off of them for what they can get. It happens today without a universal health care system, and getting one would only make it worse. Although you say one out every six Americans is uninsured, they are never turned away from a hospital, it is illegal to refuse health care. You say these people wait until their diseases get worse, but with having a universal health care system they would have to wait until things got worse anyways because the demand is so high. It would take months and months to ever get an appointment in a hospital. Look at Canada's heath care system, it takes 6 months to even schedule a gynecologist appointment. You say 21 % of people who are uninsured are under the age of 18, then why not come up with a plan for these people who cannot even help it, because they're not adults yet. There should be a revised plan but not free health care.