Some of the main arguments against care for all are cost, medical personnel shortage, and quality of care. The Millennium Development Goals were eight goals set by the World Health Organization that would bring about change in poorer countries, 3 of these goals were directly related to healthcare. The goals were to eliminate hunger and poverty, promote gender equality and empower women, fight disease such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, develop universal primary education, improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, achieve environmental sustainability, and to create an international partnership for development. The Millennium Development Goals were to be achieved by 2015. Most of the targets were not met. It would’ve costed about $120 billion USD to meet all of the Millennium Development Goals in 2012- that is over five times less than the entire US military budget in the same year. It just wasn’t a priority for most people. Another barrier to access to healthcare is the lack of medical personnel. In Africa, there are 3324 people for every one medical doctor. In South East Asia, there are 1239 people for every medical doctor. In the Eastern Mediterranean, there are 989 people per medical doctor. In the Americas. the ratio is 417 to 1. In Europe the ratio is 293 to one. In the Western Pacific, the ratio is 533 to one. If healthcare expands for people globally, the divides will only get worse and the healthcare systems around the world will be even more strained. And with a strained healthcare system, we will see a drop in care quality as the doctors cannot adequately treat all of the patients.
In the United States, arguers against Universal Healthcare say that is it not guaranteed under the Declaration, so the government is not obligated to provide healthcare for its citizens. They argue that healthcare as a right would increase waiting times for patients, as well as increase the national deficit and amount of debt. Healthcare as a right would lead to an increase in taxes, because the healthcare system would need to be funded. having single-payer healthcare systems is a step towards socialism, and arguers against Universal Healthcare in the United States sees this as a bad thing. Socialism, or rather State Socialism, as discussed in chapter 8 of our textbook, is “an economic system where the government owns property and controls production.” In the context of healthcare, it is when the government regulates a single-payer healthcare system for its citizens. Another reason why people are against Universal Healthcare in the United States is the impact it could have on the healthcare system, the patients, and the physicians. If healthcare were to be made affordable/free to everyone, it may lead to an abuse of the system. Because of the over-abundance of people utilizing the healthcare system, the quality of care will be reduced and the already short supply of physicians and medical personnel would get even shorter- this could lead to medical personnel rationing medical care and people having to endure the risk of serious injury and even death, and the decisions about who gets care and who does not may not be made ethically or fairly. Also a result of socialized medicine, physician pay would decrease, when they already have enough debt and fees to worry about.