The Case for Universal Health Care
With hope and a delineated path to health care overhaul, David Colton’s The Case for Universal Health Care is cogent in arguing for a system of uniform benefits for all.
Colton argues that Americans are resistant to universal health care because they are misinformed about how health care works. The book’s three comprehensive sections begin with a detailed overview of the current fee-for-service health care model, explaining how health care services are delivered. The second section is eye opening with its accounts of how public monies already cover myriad aspects of health care—over 50% of Americans receive a form of tax-supported care.
Analyzing working universal health care systems in France, Canada, the UK, and Japan, the book shows that UHC is a realistic and worthwhile goal. Its third section outlines a single-payer model in which administrative costs are cut through easier, more efficient billing and that focuses on preventative care. In the presented model, uniform benefits would extend to all; a standardized, government-negotiated fee schedule would regulate health care service costs and the cost of prescription drugs.
Moral arguments, and arguments around obligations, also build into the book’s promotion of UHC. It asserts that funding the plan through taxes on purchases would be a fair way to gain contributions from all. It also addresses the hot issue of health care costs, showing that provider competition did not drive down costs as fee-for-service advocates claimed. It shows that American citizens cross the Canadian border to access less expensive drugs, about which critics warn that quality control is unverified, despite coming from some of the same companies responsible for American pharmaceuticals.
Beginning with educational information and building a solid argument for universal health care, The Case for Universal Health Care’s plan seems not only feasible, but necessary.
Reviewed by
Tanisha Rule
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
