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Universal Healthcare: Political And Socialobsticals

Universal Healthcare:
Political and Social Obstacles

Many Americans are under the impression that the United States has the best health care system in the world. That may be true at many top medical centers but the disturbing truth is that this country, as a whole, lags well behind other advanced nations in delivering timely, effective, and affordable health care. This next presidential election might take the country in a new direction in terms of how our medical system is run. In fact “socialized medicine” has been mentioned numerous times in the current presidential debates. This is not the first time in American history that this issue has been brought up, in fact universal health care has encountered many social and political roadblocks, but it seems as if it will soon be feasible for America to adopt some form of European style health care. Why has it taken so long to realize the flaws of our current system?
Past U.S. presidents foresaw the problems that would arise with the American health care system, and they sought to make a change before Americans suffered. Unfortunately their ideas were not met with an open mind and ultimately were dismissed. In 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president elect and it was his responsibility to ensure that the nation prevail during those times of hardships. He proposed a plan, the “New Deal,” which would reignite the economy and provide education and healthcare to all. Eventually, the US made it out of the depression and most aspects of the New Deal were implemented with success with the exception of healthcare. Harvey Cushing, Chief of the President’s Medical Advisory Committee, who was also once part of the Committee on Economic Security, strongly opposed the idea of governmental control over medicine. He met with Roosevelt the night before the signing of a bill that would include federal insurance as part of the social security act. Ultimately, whatever was said that...