Should the United States have Universal health care?

Universal health care means the government provides basic health care coverage to all citizens - though exactly what meets the criteria for basic health care is hard to define. Its proponents assert that health care is a right of every citizen, while its opponents suggest that health care is like any other service, and therefore should be privately paid for. Furthermore, they suggest that everyone would benefit from the efficiency that would come with privatization.

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Agree

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Barack Obama United States President

Agree

Universal health care for every single American must not be a question of whether, it must be a question of how. We have the ideas, we have the resources, and we will have universal health care in this country by the end of the next president's first term.

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25 Jan 2007 Source

Hillary Clinton US Secretary of State 2009-, Democrat

Agree

I believe absolutely passionately that we must have universal health care. It is a moral responsibility and a right for our country, and... I have put forth a plan similar to what Senator Edwards had before he left the race that would move us to universal health care.

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31 Jan 2008 Source

Bill Bradley U.S. Senator

Agree

Good health is a blessing, not a guarantee, but good health care is a right and it's up to use to ensure that right for every American.

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28 Sep 2008 Source

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Donald Trump American Business Magnate

Agree

Our people are our greatest asset. We must take care of our own. We must have universal healthcare.

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02 Jul 2000 Source

Disagree

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John McCain U.S. Senator, Republican

Disagree

I don’t think that there should be a mandate for every American to have health insurance. I think that one of our goals should be that every American own their own home, but I’m not going to mandate that every American own their own home. I think that every American should have, be available to, an affordable college education. But I’m not going to mandate that every American go to college. I feel the same way about health care.

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31 Oct 2007 Source

Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor of California 2003-

Disagree

I must veto SB 840 because I cannot support a government-run health care system. Socialized medicine is not the solution to our state’s health care problems.

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05 Sep 2008 Source

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1 Point the27th 09 May 2010 Stance on Question: Mostly Disagree

My position is a bit complicated.

Do I support Obama/Pelosi's health bill? No, absolutely not.
Do I think health care needs reform? Yes, and badly.

Essentially, the health care market is broken. Insurance comes with perverse incentives that make health care unnaturally expensive and poor quality. Reforms to bring health care closer to a free market -- mainly, ending the subsidy for health insurance -- would make health care much cheaper and more easily available. With the savings from reform, we could afford to subsidize health care (perhaps in the form of vouchers or health savings accounts) for low-income Americans, and I think we should do so. That's "universal health care" of a sort, but it's definitely not universal health insurance.

0 Points Lulu 06 Sep 2008 Editorial Comment

McCain's opinion on whether US should socialize healthcare seems to refer to idea of making private health cover compulsory rather than whether there should be government-run/funded healthcare.... am i wrong?

Should the United States have Universal health care?

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