This summer I went on a physical therapy mission trip to Costa Rica. While I gained a first hand experience in the profession of a physical therapist, I also got a unique look at an example of a failed Universal Health Care System.
While Universal Health Care looks great on paper, is it feasible to enact such a plan? Regardless of you political affiliations, one must consider the reality of taking on such a grandiose venture.
Universal Health Care, as its name implies, is a system that attempts to “ensure that all people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship when paying for them.â€
World Health Organization, by no means does this guarantee coverage for everything or for free medical services, but it does seek to promise the access to health care for everyone.
This discussion is void of any political opinion as Obamacare is not a true Universal Health Care System as the President is trying to tout, but it is a step towards Universal Health Care. It is not universal because it simply forces everyone to buy into health insurance, but not everyone will buy into this system.
The cheapest plan under Obamacare, the bronze plan, barely covers anything until a $6,000 deductible is met.
As I previously mentioned, this system is making advances towards Universal Health Care, but is that something that we can realistically achieve or want to achieve?
Regardless of the attempt at Universal Health Care, Obamacare is a complex system filled with fees, deductibles, insurance companies, and co pays that many will not be able to understand.
On the surface, Costa Rica’s Universal Health Care System seems like an ideal plan that encompasses all and is successful. This is far from the case when you are out in the streets and talking to the locals.
While everyone has health care in Costa Rica, it does not ensure they will see a doctor in optimal time. For those that have the money to pay for private insurance, they receive the best healthcare that is comparable to our own private hospitals.
Unfortunately for the rest of the country, with a gross national income per capita of $12,000, they are forced to wait in long lines at overcrowded and understaffed public hospitals.
Our leader, who was a local Costa Rican, explained to us how corruption and poor planning, and a lack of public health education in the system have led to its failure. People with a simple headache will wait in line for hours to get a prescription for free medicine, while someone with cancer might be right behind them waiting in line.
Another issue faced by the system is the fact that the poor people in the country work hard, sometimes 50-70 hours in a week just provide food and shelter for their family.
These people do not have the time to wait in line for access to healthcare.
With a health care system that already has a shortage of doctors, could the U.S. really handle the large influx of patients that would come through a universal health care system?
Transportation to the public hospitals is another problem faced. Most poor people that we treated in the country only had access to limited public transportation and primarily had to walk.
While the wait for a doctor and transportation to the clinic are pressing issues, the dilemma of quality of care stands at the forefront.
Our Costa Rican leader explained that most doctor offices are like revolving doors, in which most only see their patients for only 5 minutes or so as they need to see countless patients in a day.
This ultimately leads to illnesses being undiagnosed as the quality of care suffers to do an overwhelming number of patients.
If the U.S. looks to eventually adopt this system, we need to ensure that the quality of our healthcare remains constant regardless of the number of individuals seeking treatment.
Everyone deserves access to health care, but more importantly everyone deserves access to high quality health care. We must not sacrifice our standards of practice if we are ever to one day achieve the goal of Universal Health Care.
Almost as important as access to health care is public health education.
Our current system severely lacks proper health education. A more informed society is a society that can efficiently utilize the programs in place for them.
Although we are most likely far from a true Universal Health Care System, it is important for America’s leaders to look at the faults of other systems to ensure that our first attempt at Universal Health Care will be a successful one.
Zachary Heppner
Viewpoints Editor