The economic market today has evolved such that people’s basic needs are being provided for in different ways. Corporations have certainly become larger in every industry, and industries that have grown to systemically meet the basic needs of every person are no exception. The healthcare industry is supposed to meet the basic needs of every person. However, the increase in the size of healthcare companies has served to place an undue burden on the average person and curtailed the average person’s freedom.
The healthcare industry is an industry that should meet the basic needs of everyone. However, today millions of citizens don’t have adequate healthcare. In fact, “30% of Americans say they would have to choose between necessities and paying a medical bill if a surprise bill arrived (Meritage Medical Network).“ Further, in many states, it costs hundreds of dollars for necessary medication like insulin. These predatory practices employed by the healthcare industry impose significant financial burdens on average people. Further, under the current system, health insurance is often used to threaten and coerce members of the working class. Workers often accept lower wages because they need health insurance for them and their families. Workers often fear termination because their family’s health insurance is attached to their employment. Large corporations use things like healthcare to coerce their workforce.
These fact that corporations are getting bigger means we may need to rethink the way our current societal systems meet our basic needs. There are many benefits to socializing our current healthcare system. The country could provide medical assistance to millions of people while experiencing a reduction in healthcare costs. The National Center for Biotechnology Information published an article that concluded that the general academic consensus was that a shift in the healthcare system toward single payer would create a system that imposes fewer costs on society. Of course, the precise number varies based on the particular plan that is implemented, but the general consensus amongst social scientists was that a transition to a single payer system would reduce the financial burden on the country.
The current healthcare system’s predatory practices have left people less free than they used to be. Socializing this healthcare system would free society from the parisitism of the healthcare industry. For example, the current healthcare system did not use to price gouge so intensely on necessary products such as insulin or particular other live saving medication. Because this is a different historical moment and a different economic organization, we can further free people by socializing the healthcare industry. This will ensure that each person’s basic healthcare needs are met and allow both them and their liberty to flourish. Under the current system, healthcare corporations have become so large that they can insulate themselves from their competition in the healthcare industry. This insulation from competition allows for the predatory practices of large healthcare corporations to create a large financial burden on the average person.
Although socializing the healthcare industry would increase the size of the government, it would contribute to more liberty under these current historical circumstances by reducing the economic burden placed on people and combatting coercion techniques used by large corporations.