By: Daniel Nardini

There are a number of things most Europeans do not understand about the United States. Three of these things are Americans’ love for guns and gun ownership, the belief in states’ rights and in local government, and in America’s extreme conservatism and strong obsession with religion. A fourth difference recently has been the American viewpoint of universal health care versus the European viewpoint of universal health care. When the U.S. Affordable Health Care Act was passed in 2010, most Europeans saw it as a positive change to what they saw as an unequal, chaotic and unworkable health care system. Europeans were not prepared for the American reaction to the law put into place. The result now is that the law is before the U.S. Supreme Court on whether it is constitutional or not. In many surveys, a majority of Americans have rejected the Affordable Health Care Act, and would like to see it repealed. For most Europeans this whole viewpoint is inexplicable—why would anyone want to get rid of something that might ultimately benefits them and the country as a whole?

Even the British are at a loss to comprehend why so many Americans are against the Affordable Health Care Act. There are four main reasons why a majority of Americans are not too thrilled with the Affordable Health Care Act. First, many Americans feel they are being “forced” into accepting something they do not want. It is being seen as a commercial regulation being forced down their throats. The second reason is because many Americans fear, rightly or not, that the act will force their own medical care plans to become more expensive and to pay higher premiums for those who cannot afford the premiums or may be exempted. Third, many Americans fear what they see as a “government” takeover of their health care and a takeover that will mean they no longer have any choices about what they want out of their health care. Finally, many Americans fear they will be unable to afford buying insurance because so many Americans right now are barely making ends meet and many will not be able to afford buying health insurance. If many Americans cannot buy health care coverage now, how will they be able to pay for the penalties?

Europeans, by and large, have lived with national health care systems mandated by their respective governments for decades. For so many it is second nature. And even if they do not always like what their health care systems are, they accept it as a fact of life. Many Americans are not accustomed to this, and in the view of so many Americans the U.S. government getting involved in mandating health care is a blow against their constitutional rights, against freedom of commerce, and as government interference in the private lives of Americans. The whole fight of the Affordable Health Care Act before the U.S. Supreme Court is just one more thing of why Americans and Europeans will not see many things eye-to-eye.