My Thoughts on Universal Healthcare

So for those of you who read the news (and don't solely rely on my incredible blog to stay updated on current events) I'm sure you've read about the lawsuit being filed against President Obama. Speaker Boehner is suing BO for not doing his duty by upholding his law, The Affordable Care Act. When I first heard about this, I burst out laughing. The idea of republican house members being up in arms about the inability to execute a law that they didn't want to begin with astounds me. That's not the point of this post though, I'm more concerned with why I think universal health care is beneficial to the economy, and to society as a whole.

I do not consider myself an expert on anything, but I certainly do have some supporting claims to my argument. First of all, I want to address the unemployment rate. Unemployment has been a huge issue in the US since the Great Recession, and with structural unemployment hovering around 6%, it's hard to imagine us reaching pre-recession levels. But consider this: a husband and father of two is looking for work. He needs to support his family, but doesn't have an education so finding a solid high-paying job is difficult. He turns down jobs over and over again because they do not provide him with healthcare, which he needs in order to provide for his family. Then, health care becomes free. Our protagonist signs up online and now his family is covered. The next day, he accepts a job without worrying about his family's coverage.

Next, let's consider economic growth. My thesis was about growth, and one thing that I learned is that personal consumption accounts for over 70% of GDP. Now you take a family that is not financially affluent, and make them pay for health care, they are now unable to allocate that money towards consumption. If the health care is provided for them, they are far more likely to consume with their extra disposable income, and can therefore help contribute more to growth.

My finally economic analysis pertains to production. I mentioned earlier that unemployment could decrease, but along with that comes an increase in production. If the less wealthy now can obtain healthcare free of charge, they are far more likely to work harder. They will see an increase in their take home income, and as a result feel the need to compensate through productivity. I realize this one is a stretch, but I think you'd be surprised to find out what seemingly trivial things can affect a person's productivity.

So why is none of this happening yet? Well, as mentioned, the law has not been executed very well. However, that is not to blame on the present. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe over 30 states refused to set up the portals for Obamacare, leaving it up to the federal government to do it for them. In addition, many people are so intent on hating the president that they refuse to give a law like this the time of day. Hopefully one day it will change, but until then, I'm glad to see the government wasting my money to sue each other over something that is really, pretty meaningless. Sweet.