In the winter, there are many difficulties one may face, including illness. So far in the 2025 to 2026 flu season, 120,000 people have been hospitalized with the flu. Sickness and hospital visits are an issue for many people. They are expensive, and because the visits take away from the work week, they can cost even more than the doctor’s bill. One way to solve this issue would be to provide universal healthcare.
The average yearly salary is around $61,000. While this can seem like a lot to a student, this is not very much after taxes, rent and other expenses. Furthermore, the average hospital visit costs for inpatient stays is $14,101, which is 23 percent of this average salary.
Even if a person does not regularly visit a hospital, the average yearly health insurance cost is between $25,000 to $27,000. This is an even larger amount of the average salary at just under 41 percent of the average yearly salary. Essentially, healthcare is extremely expensive.
For those with salaries below the average, this is even more impactful. These poorer people could decide not to get health insurance or visit the hospital in times of need, leading to horrible consequences.
When people cannot afford to visit healthcare professionals, it can cause sicknesses and other conditions to escalate even quicker. However, if healthcare were to be free, the average person would be much more willing to accept the cost. Instead of giving up both their day of work and a huge portion of their savings, they would just give up their time.
With that solution, many more people would be more willing to see professionals. Furthermore, this could lead to sicknesses spreading less quickly as doctors could intervene faster.
If universal healthcare were to be implemented in the U.S., pnhp.org, or physicians for a national health program, gives the example that, factoring in employee healthcare, a secretary with a $50,000 salary and a $15,000 healthcare plan would pay $4,000 more in taxes in a universal healthcare system, but their salary would rise to $65,000. That means that this secretary would earn $11,000 more.
Universal healthcare is more than the numbers. Many people have limited access to healthcare because they have little resources to pay for the cost insurance will not cover. Supporting free healthcare supports them.
Together, people can try to spread a little more equality in the world and support the good of human kind. If everyone had access to healthcare, there would be fewer people excluded. That is a better world everyone can look forward to.
