Health care has been a topic that has been widely debated globally for a while. The healthcare debate is especially heated in the United States. As of 2017, the U.S. is the only developed country that does not have nation-wide healthcare.

The Facts

• As a whole, we pay around $2.8 trillion annually for health care alone.
• According to the organization Physicians for a National Health Program (pnhp.org), the United States spends $765 billion annually on things that do not make Americans any healthier.
•  The cost of prescription drugs in America can be extremely overpriced. This is partially because, according to Money magazine, drug manufacturers in the U.S. get to set their own prices.
• The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has undoubtedly helped the U.S. in terms of healthcare, as it has left fewer Americans uninsured. However, it is not perfect. There are still around 20 million Americans without health insurance.

 How to change it

In my opinion, the best solution would be to remove the “insurance” part of healthcare insurance and just have universal healthcare. In education, you have the option to, if you can afford it, go to a private school. However, if you do not want to go to a private school or can not afford it, you have the right to go to a public school and that school has to educate you because you have the right to an education. It should be the same way with healthcare. I believe that the people who can afford expensive privatized healthcare should have the option to use that health care rather than government funded health care. But for those who do not want that or cannot afford that should have the right to free healthcare. After all, according to statistical comparison website, DecisionData.org (decisiondata.org), “Universal Health Care would save the U.S. around $600 billion.”

Everyone should have the right to free health care. Not affordable or semi-affordable health care; free health care. This isn’t a share in the stock market. Health care isn’t just another corporation; it’s life or death.  Here in America, we treat everything like it’s a business. Well it’s not. This is the United States of America, not the United States of America Incorporated. Wake up. We need to prioritize life and safety over material things.

Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2016-2017 Periscope staff, CHS Administration, or the CHS student body.