Universal Health Care: Why is this even a question in the 21st century?

Coronavirus is creating a lot of data.

Could this help to establish healthcare as a human right?

I appreciate that not everyone is a 'big nerd'. Nor is the planet occupied by 'number junkies'.

The World Health Organisation seems to have realised this, and thankfully so.

The WHO are doing a good job at getting information and data out to not just the media, but also the public and in simple, straightforward ways.

One way they communicate how the world is fairing during this pandemic is through their situation dashboard (WHO Covid-19 Dashboard).

For anyone looking at the data plots of coronavirus for each country, you can see a general theme. Over the first 4 to 6 weeks, the number of cases are relatively low. Then buckle up as the next 4 to 6 weeks will be like a rocket launch. Those numbers of increase in confirmed cases just take off.

Watching TV can be scary. There's wall to wall coverage on a 24/7 basis of something that is very serious and new to the world of science and medicine.

We in the UK, like much of Europe, have access to expert care in the form of a universal system of healthcare, free at the point of use. We just roll up to a hospital and without the concern of 'how will I pay for this?', 'will this ruin my family?', we get treated for whatever we present with.

For those of you reading this in the UK and other countries that support the people through nationalised health services, I'd like you to imagine that this wasn't the case. What if we had to find out if we were 'covered'? Is our coverage enough? What does it cover? What will be paid?

The richest country in the world, the USA, in 2018 had 11.1% of the population uninsured. This amounts to 30.1 Million people.

Of those that are insured a vast number, around 49%, have their health coverage through their employer.

Of course, this is spun as a wonderful benefit. How lucky you are that the 'boss man' deems you important enough to cover your 'health benefits'. Of course, without you, your company doesn't make any money.

The power that health insurance gives an employer is significant and asymmetric. The health insurance an employee gets by working for a particular company will likely cover his or her family. Any negotiation with the employer and the employee is not actually fighting for better conditions for themselves at work but it is extended to the basic right of the health of their family. This is very persuasive.

So, aside from the health insurance industry, employers in general in the US have a vested interest in keeping the 'Co payer' system.

Having created and supported a 'for profit' based health system it is little wonder that it is not as able to respond to a large scale, public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Washington Post recently published an article quoting many health experts from around the globe on whether they saw benefits from universal health care systems as opposed to 'for profits'.

Unhampered government intervention into the healthcare sector is an advantage when the virus is spreading fast across the country

said Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University in Seoul, of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jorgen Kurtzhals, the head of the University of Copenhagen medical school, told the Post,

We are aware that there will be huge expenditure within the system. But we're not too concerned about it because we have a direct line of communication from the national government to the regional government to the hospital directors.

Even after more than a decade of austerity from the Tory administration in the UK,  Helen Buckingham, director of strategy and operations at the London-based Nuffield Trust think tank, told the Post that the NHS is in a relatively good position to cope with COVID-19 because it has

a very clear emergency planning structure

Additionally, Buckingham noted,

there is no need for people to worry about the tests or vaccine or cost of care if people become ill.

Perhaps the most apposite quote came from David Fisman, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, who said that in a

time of crisis

like the coronavirus pandemic,

having a healthcare system that's a public strategic asset rather than a business run for profit allows for a degree of coordination and optimal use of resources.

Take care, keep on reading, please comment, take a look at the YT channel and if you can help support this work, please consider becoming a patron.

All the best,

Dave

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