In Hong Kong, affordable or even free public healthcare services are provided by the government – and it never occurred to me that it could be otherwise in any other Developed country. That thought was set straight when we started discussing different types of costs in class.
Legacy Costs. For American Auto or Steel manufacturing companies as well as older airlines, the term legacy cost represent astronomical sums of money that the company has to set aside for healthcare and pensions of retired employees. Instead of being spread out across the society, these costs are attributed to single companies who hire a large part of the workforce.
Companies such as Chrysler, Ford and GM become less competitive compared with other Auto manufacturers who are new to the United States or are based elsewhere in countries that provide national healthcare, and hence do not have to incur such a cost. General Motors Corp., for example, spent $4.8-billion (U.S.) in 2003 to cover 1.1 million people, which is more than what it spent on expenditure for steel. Health care is estimated to add an extra $1400 (U.S) to the cost of every car GM produces.
People should not have to had worked in a company until retirement to be able to receive free healthcare services. Healthcare also shouldn’t be a second taxation for companies. The donors and the recipient criteria in this equation is mismatched. This is a burden that the government has every obligation to bear. In my opinion, National healthcare services is a solution long overdue.