Just over a year ago a poll was conducted that listed the happiest countries in the world. The US ranked 21st on the list. The top ten are Denmark , Puerto Rico, Colombia, Iceland, N. Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, and Austria. The US sits at twenty first place. What makes most of these countries happy? Most of these nations have a safety net. Most of them are socialist and provide health care for their entire citizenry. On this merit I rank the establishment of a nationally funded health care system as the number one issue in which Obama needs to address.

Many of the Conservatives will be apoplectic at the thought of national health insurance but despite the economic times (and maybe due to them) such a program is right for America now for many reasons. In order to compete against other advanced economies whose states provide health insurance (and that is most of them), US companies need to be released from the burden of providing expensive coverage for their employees.  With our manufacturing base exiting this nation at a rapid clip and finding a home in developing nations with their cheap labor, the growing cost of company provided health care makes moving overseas attractive for the manufacturers that still remain in the US. And this is not just limited to manufacturing. Segments of the service economy, the backbone of the modern US economy, are also moving to East and South Asia as well as Latin America. Eliminating the cost of health care will make staying in the US more appealing for businesses. This will enhance the American free market, not harm it. If a society doesn’t produce goods in which to trade it loses its economic foundation.

The US spends twice as much as any industrialized nation on health care per capita. Despite spending over $7000 per person per year, this nation still has more than 47 million of its citizens who are without insurance. The private companies serve as a patchwork system where greed finds a home in the halls of Washington as lobbyists work their magic to inflate prices of drugs and care. It is said that a failure to modernize and a lack of a cohesive health care system costs $1 for every three spent. The money saved in unifying a national health care system is purported to be in the neighborhood of $350 billion per year. Hospitals would no longer suffer from patients not being able to pay for expensive care and emergency rooms wouldn’t be filled with people who wait until they can no longer stand the pain before they seek care. Sure, we would see higher taxes, but the rewards to our system would be manifested in a stronger and less strapped business sector. As jobs in the 21st century are rarely life long, like the employment trends of the 20th century, many Americans have found themselves more exposed to a less than sympathetic health care system.

Those who are complaining about the stimulus package should look at the details. One large component of the bill is providing extended COBRA insurance for those who have been laid off. It simply is throwing money into the already inefficient health care system. It is time for Obama to stare down the naysayers and begin the transformation of our outdated health care. Perhaps the US can then move up the happiness scale.