Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Why doesn't the United States have a strong national healthcare system?

Why is the US the only highly industrialized country without a national healthcare system? I know that the US has medicaid and medicare, but I am talking about the more extensive types of programs like the ones that exist in Canada and many European countries.

20 Answers

Relevance
  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Because powerful corporations have control over policy in the US and health care is treated like an industry run for profit instead of a basic human right.

  • copier
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    the U. S. is the basically truly industrialized equipment interior the international with out customary health insurance by way of pharmaceutical foyer that exists in Washington DC that refuses to enable it take position. that's been shown that that is a procedures more cost-effective for the authorities to run the healthcare equipment that that is for deepest organization, that's truly ridiculous to say because healthcare in this u . s . isn't very deepest besides with the heavy regulations the authorities imposes on in any comprehend they ought to easily make it customary. that's been shown that agencies and businesses would also want it because it should be a lot less of a burden to them. incontrovertible truth: Chrysler spends extra on worker health insurance than it does for the metallic to make their autos. The Veterens clinics interior the U. S. were the numerous worse places to bypass some many years in the past, yet with somewhat authorities care they grew to change into the superb position for human beings to bypass and the have the bottom administrative costs of the different clinics interior the country. the U. S. is with the help of a procedures not the superb healthcare equipment interior the international that's shown with the help of our existence expectancy compared to those of alternative truly industrialized international locations. for sure, with a clean customary healthcare equipment taxes would favor to be raised besides the indisputable fact that it may probably be a smaller quantity of money than what human beings will be paying now for health insurance because the authorities will be able to regulate the costs of drugs and different appropriate health amenities. Healthcare should not be a privilege, it may nicely be a good and a useless ringer for this u . s . has a duty to guard anybody from the evil interior the international, it may actually have the pastime of creating confident anybody has accessible healthcare. authorities isn't efficient at a lot of issues, yet they have shown themselves to be the superb thanks to furnish healthcare. basically because this u . s . must have customary health insurance does not recommend that we are a socialist u . s ....that is a step in course of creating this u . s . a significantly better and extra acceptable position to stay.

  • 1 decade ago

    Because if they did doctors wouldn't get filthy rich, insurance companies would lose money, it all about the private sector making more money. And when you look at every plan the gov. came up with the plan involved some sort of insurance policy.we are the only industialized nation that doesn't have social health care only the very poor or the rich can afford health care. It is just another way to seperate the classes and they get down on India's class system at least hey have health care as crude as it may be at least htey making an effort

  • 1 decade ago

    The United States doesn't have a strong national healthcare system because we keep electing people who don't give a rat's a*S*S about the common man. President Clinton might have had some success in instituting a healthcare system if Hillary had kept her face out of it. People resented her acting like Mrs. President and shot it down.

  • How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
  • zingis
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    You do have one. The US spends more of their GDP on healthcare than any other country. It just adds a profit incentive and distributes health care a little differently.

    Universal health care is no utopia, but my father might be dead right now if we didn't have it in Canada.

    As to the US, it just comes down to will of the people. A lot of Americans fear/loathe/hate big government and taxes. There seems to be a problem with the word 'liberal' stateside, let alone the word 'socialist'. A national universal health care plan is a socialistic device... just like 'social' security and unemployment insurance.

    Whether I get the service from big government or big business or whether I pay higher taxes or higher employment deductions makes no difference to me, so long as I get to some medical attention.

    Peace

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Because we are a Capitalistic country, not socialist. America is all about getting what you can for yourself-not communalism.

    I hate when fellow Americans complain about the working of social instituions in their own country so ignorantly.

    Our Capatalism seeps into everything we do and pursue. Think about that next time you vote or express overlystorng patriotism for a country that leaves its own citizens behind for the almighty doallar. Many don't understand it when they are praising the US but lack of social agendas is what it stands for.

    It has always been that way? Did you ever take history or government in HS?

  • 1 decade ago

    Because of the dynamic of our population and our culture. This is the melting pot, remember? Our society struggles to find common ground on anything, really. The other REALLY good reason is that Americans have more wealth, more access to better technology in health care...and our mortality rates (like infant mortality) hovers around the third world rates of mortality. Why?

    Well why is a nutritional disorder a leading killer in this country? Heart disease? No one can stop injesting poisons, or exercise, or eat healthy...well not a majority of people anyway. I'm surprised the FDA put out warnings on the plastic we eat daily (transfats). I thought the food industry had somehow lobbied their way into killing us with nary a word from the experts.

    Europe may do naughty things like we do, but they do way more healthy things to balance it out. Like stress reduction, it's all about culture- we are so greed driven it's not acceptable to stop and look at the scenery in life. How about our diet? Whereas Europeans eat fresh food, we eat highly processed foods with little nutritional value. Our calorie intake way exceeds our exercise level. We aren't aware of things like 'prevention'. Many think the emergency dept is where you go if your kid has the sniffles. Legal expenses, our demanding mounds of paperwork from the beaurocratic forces - how about third party payers. Billions of dollars on managed care, these are not providers, they just take your money, tell you where to go and then pass out checks. Why not make health care affordable? Take away the billion dollar paper pushers - put an end to needing high cost insurance by changing legislation. If people don't want to have so much malpractice -maybe they should go to medical school and do it themselves. It's a blame society, a whining, do no work, no care about the bigger picture society.

    Instead of putting the GOVERNMENT (my good God) in charge of anything else it can screw up we should support the physicians out there who have already made a break from insurance and take private pay. Like in the old days, doctors practiced for what people could afford- it managed cost without allowing the greedy middle guys to put there hand in the pot. Just the provider and the patient, the way it should be. Then, you have people concerned about needing blood pressure medication, because it puts the onus back on 'them' (they might think a little harder about their habits). If we go social, I'll quit nursing. I'd never work for the government - I'd be payed less and worked harder, and as if it isn't hard enough! The freedom to choose good care would be gone, doctors are already frustrated, watch people say 'goodbye' to trying to practice in this culture under those conditions.

    I am a huge human rights activist. I work in mental health and believe in access to healthcare for all. However, I see the problem with the apathetic society we live in, insurance is on the rise because basically we just allowed ourselves to be ridden with disease. It's all inter-related. Like I said, make it affordable again and have some sort of account, possibly with government 'support' like a free loan you pay monthly, and to never exceed what you can afford (yet your choices may be limited if you are non-compliant with your health) and let's motivate people to be healthy.

    This government has marched this whole country into an illegal (my opinion) war, now we really want them to put our lives in their hands? No way.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    You are right and as a Republican I agree but we must take care of the illegal alien problem first. No more people coming here and sucking our system dry. I have never been a national health care person but I do believe something must be done. We need some smart people to figure out this difficult question so that it is not abused.

  • 1 decade ago

    Because the medical industry is no longer a service industry. It is a business. Doctors don't make money off patients who aren't sick; it is therefore in the doctor's interest to make as much money as possible in the time that the patient is sick, either by limiting the effectiveness of treatments, thus causing the patients to return, or by charging exorbitant rates.

  • 1 decade ago

    Because that would force the US to impose taxes so high, that the average citizen would not have the extra disposable income to keep our consumer driven economy running. Lesson 1 in the US, find a job with good health benefits.

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.