The Bumpy Road Toward Universal Healthcare Coverage In The United States

Health care, a key component of social security system, concerns the vitalinterest of everyone in a society. Due to differences in social system, economicdevelopment level and cultural tradition, countries vary in their choices of healthcare systems. There might be some underlining causes as to why United States, thelargest developed country in the world, is the only western country without auniversal health care coverage. This paper starts with an overall picture of the UShealth care system, then, it goes on to explore the system historically, and later, thedeep-rooted reasons as to why it is so hard for the US to push forward health carereform. Firstly, the author puts forward a question, that is, why is it so hard to pushforward health care reform in the United States and state the significance of thisthesis. Then, the paper goes back to offer a general view of the development andhistory of the US health care system by trying to draw a picture of the efforts ofdifferent administrations in carrying out health care reform at different stages. Next,the paper introduces the current US health care system and gives a detailedexplanation of US health care system, including commercial health care, the maincomponent of US health care system, and Medicare, specifically targeted at the oldsand Medicaid as a supplementary. Obama’s health care reform, including itsbackground, its main component and consequences are analyzed in this paper. Then,the author tries to figure out the factors blocking the way of US health care reform.The paper talks about the plausibility of current US health care system, and then,explores why historically and politically, it is difficult to push forward the US healthcare reform. At the same time, the author point out that the American value ofindividualism also plays an indispensable role.