Most people who support single payer health care, recognize it as a necessity to ensure fairness, equity, and the ideal that health care is a human right.  However, conservatives are often not convinced by these arguments, so I have expanded on three issues here that speak more directly to top concerns raised by conserviatives.

#1  Prosperity

American manufacturing is hindered by two problems that manufacturers in other industrialized countries do not face.

First, in the United States employers are expected to include the full cost of providing health care insurance to their employees (whether paid by the employer or the employee, this is still a cost of employment).  This drives up the cost of goods manufactured in the United States, making them less competetive on the world market, and increases the cost for an entrepeneur to start a new business.  This also makes it very difficult for new small businesses to compete for experienced employees, when the business cannot offer the same level of health care coverage that the potential employee currently receives from a bigger, longer established employer.

Second, employers in the United States must deal with more health problems among their employees, because too many employees have insufficient preventive medical care.

A single payer universal health care system would allow three major changes for employers.

1) An overall reduction in costs (At the least, a 20% savings in administration of the system.  Other industrialized countries provide universal health care at half the cost of our current system per capita.)

2) Increased competetiveness on the world market for manufactured goods.  The auto industry alone would experience a reduction in production cost of thousands of dollars per vehicle.  While health care costs would still appear in the form of payroll taxes, these taxes per employee would be much lower than what employers currently pay in health care insurance premiums.

3) Increased competetiveness for new small businesses.  Without the threat of losing health care benefits, individuals would have the freedom to choose to start their own business, or go to work for an intrigueing new company, rather than stay in a job they no longer enjoy.

#2 Security

A healthier population makes us more secure.  Currently the United States ranks far down the list on numerous measures of overall health.  We are far down the list on limiting infant mortality, we are far down the list on life expectancy, and we are far down the list on health security.  A healthy population can respond more quickly to national emergencies, and can indivdually feel more secure within their own lives.  Every year millions of people are at risk of losing their homes because of health care costs and tens of thousands lose their lives because of a lack of adequate health care.

A single payer health care system would ensure that people no longer go bankrupt over medical bills, and that people no longer suffer needlessly from illnesses and conditions that could be readily treated if they could only afford the treatment.

A healthy population will be a more productive population and a population able to pull together with strength when the need arises.

#3 Patriotism

In many ways America remains the best place in the world to live.  This is the true birthplace of freedom and democracy.  People throughout the world continue to be drawn here because of the freedom to live our lives how we choose and the opportunities available to build better lives for future generations.

Unfortunately this freedom is threatened for millions of Americans by the inability to obtain adequate health care.  We SHOULD have the best health care system in the world.  Right now it is only the best health care in the world for those who can afford it.  For the millions who cannot afford it, it is a very poor health care system.  I want to see a day when the United States of America is at the top of all the charts on health care ratings.  We should be number one in the world in reducing infant mortality.  We should be number one in the world in extending life expectency.  We should be number one in the world in health security.