The Anti-Social US Health-Care System: A Case for Socially Oriented Reform

In the US, there has historically been strong public opposition to health-care reform involving "socialized medicine." This resistance, at least in part, is influenced by a deeply entrenched individualistic ethos. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that the current US health-care system is broken, and that existing systems around the world achieve better outcomes while costing less. This article argues that learning from these systems should be possible. The authors describe roadblocks to health-care reform in the US, including social fragmentation, resistance to global models, and the prioritization of profit over well-being; argue that a value system that prioritizes the individual over the collective precludes successful health-care reform; highlight shortcomings of the US model; and propose that reimagining health care through a socially oriented lens, emphasizing collective and reciprocal moral obligations, may offer a path forward.