Con may simply rebut or may include his own points but...
Universal Health Care
RESOLUTION That a universal health care system, on balance, is beneficial. DEFINITIONS Universal health care: noun A health care system organized by government and built around the principle of universal coverage to all citizens. Beneficial: adjective In this debate, beneficial will refer to an increase in the general standard of living. Further examination of the meaning does not need to be brought up in this debate. INTRODUCTION I'm am happy to be starting this debate which I have been planning to do with jimtimmy. I have been waiting tell I had more time to devote to debating. Hopefully there will be no forfeits here. May no one vote without reading and may they be honest in doing so. I will lay out a few short points that I may add to or expand on later. Con may simply rebut or may include his own points but there will be no new points by him in the last round. ARGUMENTS 1. Universal health care will decrease spending on health care According to OECD Health Data[1], the United States spends much more on healthcare per capita, US$ PPP than the U.K., Switzerland, Japan, Germany, France, Canada or Australia. And what is the difference between the countries and the United States? They all have universal health care and it doesn't. But how could this be so? There are a multitude of reasons but the most pronounced is preventive medicine. In countries without universal health care, namely the United States, the majority of individuals with ailments, whether they know of them or not, have a strong incentive to stay away from check-ups because it will cost them money that they are already struggling to hold onto. 2. Universal health care will save lives. The American Journal of Public Health confirms that around 45,000 people die each year in the United States due to lack of health insurance [2]. Arguments can be made concerning how much health care could cost. Even though, as I would see the evidence suggests, universal health is good for the economy, it doesn't even matter. For if it was bad for the economy, it is still putting a price on human life to say that we would be better without it. Not only human life but human health. While many die from lack of insurance there are still many more who will live in agony. Universal health care is the humane thing to do. 3. Universal Health care will help the economy According to the US Department of Labor, the average American spends about 3,175 dollars a year on health insurance [3]. Universal health care puts that money back into the hands of the people who need it. Based on the simple mathematics of shared cost, health care would cost the average person less in tax than it would in price. Even better when the cost is fronted by the rich who could barely bat an eye at losing 3,175 dollars that most Americans are desperate to keep. Securing basic needs will blunt the blade of any recession. This is why the International Monetary Fund urges that the most important thing nations can do in an economic downturn is to strengthen their social safety nets [4]. SOURCES 1. http://upload.wikimedia.org... 2. http://news.harvard.edu... 3. http://www.bls.gov... 4. http://www.imf.org...