Discussion Is Healthcare a Right or a Privilege

Healthcare System in the United States. In “is healthcare a right or a privilege” essay I will discuss this topic. My accent will be at the viewpoint that healthcare is a right for American citizens.  “Of all of the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The current debate in the USA around health care turns around the question: if it is healthcare a right or a commodity? I happen to believe it is a right. I believe every woman, man, and child should be able to access the healthcare they need regardless of their status or economic means.

Regardless of which side of the argument one is on, it is now widely accepted that without major reform, the United States healthcare system will continue to compare unfavorably to virtually all other developed nations in not only quantitative measures, such as quality and cost, but also in qualitative measures, such as the moral compact of society, and the perception of what human rights should be. I believe that if we see ourselves as being a fair an equal society, then we must as a society think about healthcare not as a commodity, but as a basic human right, regardless of socioeconomic condition. That is my perspective.

As one might expect, the prospect of access to healthcare for all –or Universal Healthcare as it is often referred to – is the subject oh heated debate in our society today, as there can be radically diverging views on the issue. Those opposing Universal Healthcare often make the argument that, in a free economy, the Government should not artificially intervene in the business of healthcare, and should instead allow the industry to flourish in a free market environment. Detractors of Universal Healthcare consider healthcare a commodity to be sold and bought, and not a right that is inherently acquired by any human being. When the Government starts declaring commodities to be human rights, critics of Universal Healthcare believe, it is assuming powers not afforded to them by the Constitution. To skeptics, Universal Healthcare would also mean significantly increasing taxes to balance what they believe would be extremely high costs to provide healthcare coverage for everyone.

I believe most arguments against Universal Healthcare are without significant merit. Particularly those arguments against its economics. For one, countries that have implemented some form of Universal Healthcare, have been significantly lower healthcare costs than in the US. In a Universal Healthcare scenario, the government controls the price of medical services and medications through negotiation and regulation. As consequence, it forces hospitals and doctors to provide standard quality services at agreed upon lower costs. As mentioned above, in the current US environment, healthcare costs are some of the highest in the world –both per capita and as a percent of GDP– and with some of the most dismal aggregate health care outcomes among developed nations, by the way.

The right to healthcare has long been recognized internationally. Ironically, the origins of this recognition are right here in the United States. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, a declaration strongly sponsored by the US, virtually every other industrialized country in the world – and many non-industrialized countries –have implemented some form of Universal Healthcare system.

All in all, I would like to imagine this country as an equal and fair nation for all, where a more comprehensive Bill of Rights includes access to the same quality of healthcare to everyone regardless of socioeconomic status. This would require for all of us to acknowledge that healthcare is in a different category from all other commodities we buy and sell. And that in fact, it is not a commodity at all. If we claim to be a fair society, how can that not include providing healthcare for those that are financially or otherwise disadvantaged? Despite at times favorable, and at times unfavorable economic cycles, doesn't the United States have a moral obligation to guarantee that all its people do no not see their lives –and dreams – extinguished because of not being able to afford adequate healthcare?

Works Cited

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