Hello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hello - Essay Example This fact is proven by the high rates of negative outcomes for patients as well as the percentage of the population that could not afford to purchase insurance plans. Several public opinion polls have indicated that the general public is overwhelmingly in support of a nationalized health-care system, meaning that healthcare should come under the domain of the government, away from private corporations. But, in spite of this unanimous support for a universal healthcare system (that includes universal insurance), the issue never crops up during presidential debates. The limitations of the two-party democratic system are also being exposed as a result. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are funded by private corporations during election campaigns, the health-insurance lobby being one of the major contributors to campaign funds. Given such a setup, it is only natural that the public opinion is suppressed or ignored in favor of the vested private interests. Some intellectuals argue that the United States lags behind other industrialized nations in its health-care system, due to its Capitalist economy, which puts corporate profits ahead of public interest. The Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark are recognized to have the best universal healthcare systems in place. Although the GDP and per capita incomes of these nations are relatively small, the â€Å"socialist† basis of their political systems has ensured this favorable condition. Also, in these countries the mainstream media is not heavily concentrated in the hands of a few giant corporations, which is the case in America. This makes it easy for the real public opinion to be openly discussed and debated. More importantly, it is in the democratic tradition of these nations to include public sentiments and opinions in the debates leading up to elections. But unfortunately, such open expression of public sentiment is not possible in the American mainstream