In his enlightening Rose Cafe talk last week, Professor Sean Nicholson of the Policy Analysis and Management department mentioned that one of the reasons medicines in the United States are more expensive than in other countries is because our country lacks a unified bargaining party. Based on my understanding of his explanation, if we were to institute a universal healthcare system, we would have much more bargaining power with major pharmaceutical firms.

One risk of such a monopolized system would be its susceptibility to corruption; from class-based discrimination in resource discrimination to the withholding of life-saving reproductive healthcare, such a system would have to be firmly embedded in an understanding that healthcare is a human right and not to be tampered with by the government or special interest groups. But if it means that people like notorious “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli, who gouged the price of life-saving medicines for sheer profit, had less power, well… I think that alone is good reason to consider developing a universal healthcare system in this country — and finally catching up to our post-industrial peers.