Human’s average life expectancy has drastically increased due to transforming advancement in medicine and treatments. The debate over whether healthcare is a welfare that should be provided by government for free or is an individual’s own responsibility to pay for medical services. In this essay, I will delve into these point of views, followed by stating my stance.
On one hand, some people think all citizens should be eligible to free healthcare as they have made significant contributions to the country’s economy. Therefore, governments should take full responsibility in taking care of their citizens’ health. In addition, providing free healthcare aligns with the value of equality. No matter the background and income, everyone’s life is equal. However, the lack of free healthcare may put low-income groups at risk as they may not be able to afford the medical expenses.
The increasing life expectancy has caused a problem of aging population. This circumstance is highlighted by low birth rates and an increasing proportion of old citizen to the overall population, causing various social problems such as insufficient labour force and increase of public expenditure on healthcare. Therefore, it is argued that people should pay for its own medical needs, rather than replying on their government to cover. By doing so, it can largely reduce governments’ financial pressure on healthcare and allow them to allocate the resources more equally.
In my opinion, I agreed that governments must take the lead in ensuring their citizens’ wellbeing. While offering free healthcare is costly, there are solutions governments should take into considerations to enhance citizens’ health. For example, increasing the tax on fast food, enforcing laws on education organisations to organise seminars regarding healthy diet and restricting the variety of food sold in schools. It helps building up children’s healthy lifestyle, decreasing the risk of illness and reducing medical cost.
To conclude, promoting wellbeing involves collective inputs from all levels of society. Governments hold the resources and power to employ policies and law while individuals should make effort in maintaining healthy habits. Instead of focusing on resolving the existing problem, we should place more emphasis on preventing the problem from happening.