Universal Health Care is a system that provides basic health care facilities to all the individuals present in society. The aim is to eradicate the diseases and make the community healthy. One of the main objectives of the Universal Health Care system is to provide affordable healthcare facilities to all the citizens of the community.
Many developed and most developing countries have included Universal Health Care Coverage in their constitution. They are working on the betterment of the health care facilities by providing the basic facilities to the ones in need.
We have seen that health care facilities can cost a fortune to some people, especially those fighting deadly diseases; such people have to take loans or sell their assets to get the medical facility, which Universal Health Care now provides at a much lesser rate.
The system has its various benefits and some cons as well, but Universal Health Care benefits are definitely more compelling than the cons. Universal Health Care can be different in different regions of the world. The definition itself of Universal Health Care changes with the place, as people have their own way of perceiving things, and the lifestyle is not the same around the globe.
The basic definition of a Universal Health Care system that stays the same, no matter what part of the world you are in, is; the role of government in providing basic health care facilities to all the citizens of the country apart from their social and economic status.
Universal Health Care Coverage encompasses all the medical facilities at a much lesser rate, and therefore, it is quite expensive for the government. The government thus collects taxes and uses them on the Universal Health Care Coverage of its community, but the fact that Universal Health Care Coverage holds a generous amount of the total budget of the country cannot be denied.
HOW UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE WORKS?
The Universal Health Care system changes from region to region, as it depends greatly on the system that the government follows and the rules it sets for the Universal Health Care Coverage of its community.
In general, there are three models of the Universal Health Care system;
Single-Prayer Model
The single-prayer model or the Beveridge Model states that the government provides free medical facilities to all individuals, and every member of the community has equivalent access to the basic health care facilities provided by the government.
The government utilizes taxes to provide this facility, and all the credits are owned by the government itself, while government employees are the main service providers of the Universal Health Care Coverage.
The government keeps a check and balance on the Health Care providers so that the healthcare practitioners provide medical facilities at economical and affordable prices.
Social Health Insurance Model
Social Health Insurance Model is used by countries where they make their employers buy the insurance of their employees. The employers deduct taxes from the yearly or monthly income of their employees and use that to buy Social Health Insurance for their employees.
In the Social Health Insurance model, the healthcare services are provided by private hospitals and doctors. This system is actually one of the first models of Universal Health Care, founded in Germany.
Before Universal Health Care was introduced, Germany had this model, called ‘sick fund,’ which was for the employees of the industries in the earliest twentieth century. Later this model, now known as Bismarck Model, was adopted by many countries like Japan, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, etc.
National Health Insurance
In the National Health Insurance model, every citizen pays a fund in the National Health Insurance. There is only one company in the whole country, and thus there are no additional administration costs, and the citizens only have to submit the insurance only. The medical costs of the healthcare facilities are in the hands of the government, and they can lower the medical healthcare prices.
Benefits of Universal Health Care
Lower Health Care Costs
The government of the country lowers the overall costs of the healthcare facilities by following any of the three models of Universal Health Care. In this way, the healthcare facilities are made accessible and reasonable for all the members of society.
Lower Administrative Costs
The private health care practitioners and doctors deal with the governmental agencies directly, and thus, the Administrative costs have been cut down a great deal.
A Healthy Workforce is created.
Primary care is essential for every citizen; when primary and especially preventive care is not available for the citizens, they will definitely come to the clinic when their condition has already worsened, and then they will have to go directly to the emergency room.
This direct visit to the emergency rooms has increased the prices of the health care facilities and plays a great role in raising the cost of the health care facilities. Universal Health Care aims at providing basic healthcare facilities to all the people, which rescues them from direct visits to the emergency rooms.
Act as Guidance to the Community
The lifestyles of the individuals play a great role in the health of the community. Universal Health Care aims to bring guidance and education to all the citizens of the community and to build a sense of healthiness. It aims to educate the general public about the importance of lifestyle and choices that they should maintain in order to build a healthy community.
Standardizes Services
In the US, doctors use various ways to target wealthy people by introducing new packages and the latest technologies. In this way, there is a competitive environment, which only wealthy people can be a part of. In this way, the costs of medical facilities are raised so much that only the upper class and elite class can go to the doctors to avail themselves of the medical facilities.
The Universal Health Care System has disfigured this system, and now each and every citizen, no matter the class, can avail of basic Health care facilities. Universal Health Care has introduced standardized services that everybody can access.
Universal Health Care System Helps Children
Children are the building blocks of the future of society. They are the future of the community, and a lot depends on them; therefore, their health is important. When children are given basic health care facilities from an early age of their life, their bodies and mind are healthy, and they are definitely going to be productive for society.
Children who are able to access basic health care facilities from early life will definitely access it later on when they are dealing with any chronic condition.
Over to You!
Universal Health Care has proved to be a very beneficial system for every society. It helps the government take care of its citizens by making medical health care facilities available for every individual in the community.
Universal Health Care aims at providing the best quality health care facilities to every person in society. Moreover, it builds a sense of equality among the people and a sense of security towards the government.
People who were not able to even seek preventive care are now able to receive healthcare facilities from the government, and a healthy community is thus formed.