ABSTRACT
Health care is one of the most important and heated topics in American politics because it affects everyone in some way, and for some the issue is a matter of life and death. The debate over health care is wide-ranging and complex, as it involves a variety of issues including: taxes, personal debt, hospitals, treatment options, prescription drugs, mental health, reproduction, contraception, end-of-life decisions, etc. Some have argued that the federal government should expand the current Medicare program to provide health care to all Americans. Opponents of expanding Medicare point out that the current system is already driving up the debt, and expanding it to all Americans would require substantial tax increases and reduce the quality of health care for most Americans. At its most basic level, the key question in the health care debate is the extent to which individuals are responsible for the welfare of others. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief history of U.S. health care policy, discuss the existing problems with the Medicare system, and debate the merits of expanding the system to cover all Americans.
