Evaluate the statement: “Americans should be pleased with the advances in U.S. health care because it improves the overall standard of living.”

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

This statement is not completely correct. While improvements in health care provide more options to Americans to meet their health care needs, in many cases those improvements come at a higher price than previous treatments. Higher health care costs have a number of effects. First, it generally makes health care harder to afford and thus less accessible to Americans. Next, it has some negative effects on the labor market, as employers must compensate for rising health care costs by slowing wage growth and changing full time workers for part-time and temporary workers whom they don’t have to provide health benefits. Also, some employers may simply find it cheaper to outsource certain jobs to international providers who face lower health care costs, removing jobs from the American market. Large medical bills for the uninsured are also a major cause of bankruptcy, as payment is easily delayed and can build up to an unreasonable sum. Lastly, the increased cost of health care forces the government (Federal, state and local) to either increase taxes or reduce spending on other programs to finance higher health care costs. Together, these effects clearly show that advances in health care have not been solely beneficial to the U.S. standard of living.