Health Care Policy

Evaluating the United States Healthcare Industry

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The United States healthcare industry has of late elicited passionate reactions from the presidential contenders of the just concluded US general election . Both contenders - Barrack Obama and John McCain had varying views as to why American authorities had never provided a universal healthcare program whereas the US government spent more on health care per individual than any other country around the world Among all member nations of the United Nations , the US health care spending comes second to

the tiny Marshal Islands , at approximately 15 .2 of the Gross National Product (GDP . According to the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine , the US is the only industrialized and wealthy nation around the world that does not provide universal health care to its citizens (Patel Rushefsky , 2006

During the second round of the just concluded presidential debates , the question of whether healthcare in the US was a right or a responsibility was posed to both Obama and McCain . Should the American citizens be entitled to healthcare as a right or do they have to earn sufficient money to pay for it as a responsibility ? The American constitution recognizes certain inalienable rights , which includes liberty , life , and the pursuit of happiness . There is also the Bill of Rights , which includes the right to due process , freedom of speech , freedom of association , among others . No where in the American constitution and the Bill of Rights has healthcare been recognized as a...