Will #coronavirus tip the balance in favor of universal health care?

I think it might.

Coronavirus shows that there are health issues that are a matter of public interest.

I’m not saying it’s a solid argument. I’m saying it will change the mindset.

3 thoughts on “Will #coronavirus tip the balance in favor of universal health care?”

  1. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) initiated the mindset. Coronavirus will likely take it much further because it exposes significant flaws in our current system and puts it right in everyone’s face. How those flaws are addressed (in a manner that’s satisfactory to most) is the $100,000 question and will likely be debated beyond all of our lifetimes.

  2. In a rational world, we’d notice that lack of universal health care isn’t the problem. For all its failures to get everything right, our system is the best-equipped in the world and as a healthcare system qua healthcare system, performing better than any other. (As a public health planning apparatus, that’s not the case, where South Korea and probably some other places are beating us, but that’s completely distinct from what people mean when they talk about needing universal health care.)

    But it’s not a rational world so it won’t work that way.

  3. QUOTE: For all its failures to get everything right, our system is the best-equipped in the world and as a healthcare system qua healthcare system, performing better than any other.

    I’m not so sure that’s a point of pride for Americans who can’t afford but need healthcare. It’s like “X” city having the world’s best restaurants. That’s notable and can bring a lot of acclaim. Yet, having that caliber of restaurants means very little when those are the only places to eat and a significant swath of the city’s population is homeless and can’t afford to go there. Universal health care, at least in theory, is attempting to address the access problem. One would think quality and access could co-exist in the world’s best-equipped country.

    That said, how to get those two factors to come together is the $100,000 question. I use to believe cost was a very real barrier. Yet, after seeing the government add 2 trillion in new federal debt since 2016 and instantly creating a 2 trillion stimulus package (without much debate), I’m starting to wonder if cost is as much of a barrier as it was once purported to be.

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