U.S. Health Care Concerns Copy

The health care debate is one of the most contentious and polarizing topics in American politics.  Some feel strongly that the current health care system is the best in the world. Others believe it is inefficient and expensive.

The United States—unlike other industrialized nations—has many insurance companies and health care providers that operate on a for-profit basis.  This characteristic is born out of the ideal that private markets driven by profit motives can best and most efficiently meet the needs of society.  An opposing ideal contends that health care is a right (not a privilege for the wealthy) and that the government should provide it to all Americans—or at least make it possible for all Americans to have it.

One common argument is that too much government involvement in health care would result in socialized medicine.  This view suggests that the socialized medicine in other industrialized nations is too expensive and not as good as the market driven system the United States enjoys.

The following slides provide information and statistics about healthcare in the United States and around the world.