anniebburg posted the question Do you think our health care system works? What are the flaws and what are the pros? Look at different countries.
Our healthcare system currently runs on the capitalist system that requires either health insurance or payment of cash in order for treatment to be administrated. Many healthcare systems exist such as Obamacare that allows reduced pricing from those who cannot afford health insurance. This is not what is used around the world, however. Many countries use socialist healthcare systems that makes all healthcare paid for by the government. Since the two main types of healthcare are the U.S system and the Socialist system, I will compare them to see their pros and cons.
The socialist healthcare system essentially replaces the process of payment in exchange for medical services. The government is now in charge of all medical procedures including emergency care, elective surgeries, and even simple doctor checkups. In return, the people will more than likely pay higher taxes and will not have to pay for the medical care they received. the U.S healthcare system provides a small amount of government support for low-income citizens, but the majority of people will have to pay the healthcare provider for their services. This payment of healthcare allows healthcare providers the ability to be private companies. This means that more hospitals and medical centers will be set up in populated areas and will bring in more capable doctors and nurses for those private medical centers since they aim to turn a profit as well as provide healthcare. This also comes with the downside of the payment of said services, which socialist healthcare does not have.
Socialist healthcare systems do not require payment to those medical providers, which means less incentive to medical centers to serve people since the government controls their payment. This in turn causes long waiting times and less capable doctors and nurses.
While Socialist healthcare does offer affordable healthcare for everyone, the lack of incentive creates less valuable healthcare than other healthcare systems like the U.S system. I do not think the U.S nor Socialist systems are perfect, but I do think that somewhere in between them lies a better alternative to either of the systems that provides good healthcare that all can afford.