Free Health Care or No?

While researching all the information about Health Insurance thinking it should be free, like some other countries have and it seems like it works good for them. Then I came across something that kinda change my mind and made sense. Maybe our country is not right for Universal Insurance, U.S. maybe just needs to lower the price....

Reasons why we should have Universal Insurance is because:

1. The number of uninsured citizens has grown to over 40 million.
2. Health care has become increasingly unaffordable for businesses and individuals.
3. We can eliminate wasteful inefficiencies such as duplicate paper work, claim approval, insurance submission, etc.
4. We can develop a centralized national database which makes diagnosis and treatment easier for doctors.
5. Medical professionals can concentrate on healing the patient rather than on insurance procedures, malpractice liability, etc.
6. Free medical services would encourage patients to practice preventive medicine and inquire about problems early when treatment will be light; currently, patients often avoid physicals and other preventive measures because of the costs.

Reasons for not having a Universal Insurance because:

1. here isn't a single government agency or division that runs efficiently; do we really want an organization that developed the U.S. Tax Code handling something as complex as health care?
2. "Free" health care isn't really free since we must pay for it with taxes; expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas such as defense, education, etc.
3. Profit motives, competition, and individual ingenuity have always led to greater cost control and effectiveness.
4. Government-controlled health care would lead to a decrease in patient flexibility.
5. Patients aren't likely to curb their drug costs and doctor visits if health care is free; thus, total costs will be several times what they are now.
6. Just because Americans are uninsured doesn't mean they can't receive health care; nonprofits and government-run hospitals provide services to those who don't have insurance, and it is illegal to refuse emergency medical service because of a lack of insurance.
7. Government-mandated procedures will likely reduce doctor flexibility and lead to poor patient care.
8. Healthy people who take care of themselves will have to pay for the burden of those who smoke, are obese, etc.
9. A long, painful transition will have to take place involving lost insurance industry jobs, business closures, and new patient record creation.
10. Loss of private practice options and possible reduced pay may dissuade many would-be doctors from pursuing the profession.
11. Malpractice lawsuit costs, which are already sky-high, could further explode since universal care may expose the government to legal liability, and the possibility to sue someone with deep pockets usually invites more lawsuits.
12. Like social security, any government benefit eventually is taken as a "right" by the public, meaning that it's politically near impossible to remove or curtail it later on when costs get out of control.

Website: http://www.balancedpolitics.org/universal_health_care.htm