The healthcare debate in the United States has caused much ruckus over the last few weeks, and it only keeps getting louder. President Obama has made this the focal issue of his young presidency, and his success or failure over this singular topic has the potential to define his first term.

The case for universal healthcare seems to be a simple one; everyone has the right to medical treatment regardless of their financial state. However, medical treatment costs money, and this is where the problems lie. Should there be a free-market system where healthcare is the individual responsibility of citizens where they have to ensure they have medical insurance, or is the State under an obligation to guarantee said care? In many parts of the modern world, such as the UK and Canada, it is deemed that this responsibility falls primarily on the government.

These two nations, out of many other countries worldwide who have universal healthcare, are the examples used most frequently in the American debate. Dividing my year between these two particular nations, I am happy to say the systems, while somewhat different in nature, have worked very well for me personally. Clearly, while not all healthcare costs can be covered by the government and a large portion of that cost is consequently dumped on the taxpayers, it is still a system that the citizens of these two nations would be hard-pressed to abandon. So, if it works in the UK and Canada and the people there, given each system’s failures and disadvantages, would still not be willing to give it up, why not try something similar in the US as well?

Obama himself called the Canadian healthcare system “the bogeyman” for a lot of Americans because of some of its more obvious flaws. Personally, I know that anytime I’ve had a minor problem, I had no troubles getting the treatment I required. When I had a serious medical issue, within three weeks I had seen my family doctor, a specialist, had an MRI, and received the results. I did not pay a dime for any of this. This proved to me that when an issue is serious enough, and one knows how to use the proper channels available, the system takes care of you. Obviously, there are mistakes and flaws but those will exist regardless of the system in place.

I’ve grown up only in countries with universal healthcare and have come to regard it as a governmental obligation on par with one’s right to free speech and education. Access to healthcare and the ability to receive the treatment required should be a fundamental right in any political system, especially one so advanced and iconic as America’s. This is why I struggle to understand the fierce opposition, the grassroots protests, and ill-will towards the people struggling to reach a solution which provides universal healthcare. I don’t know if Obama’s plan is the right one, but everyone should be willing to at least sit down and consider all possible options. The lack of desire to achieve any compromise is most puzzling.