Universal Health Care for the United States: A Primer for Health Care Providers

The United States is one of a very few high-income countries that does not guarantee every person the right to health care. Residents of the United States pay more out-of-pocket for increasingly worse outcomes. People of color, those who have lower incomes, and those who live in rural areas have less access to health care and are therefore at even greater risk for poor health. Universal health care, a term for various models of health care systems that provide care for every resident of a given country, will help move the United States toward higher quality, more affordable, and more equitable care. This article defines a reproductive justice and human rights foundation for universal health care, explores how health insurance has worked historically in the United States, identifies the economic reasons for implementing universal health care, and discusses international models that could be used domestically.