Health Care Rights Essay Example

effective treatments. In 1946, the hospital survey and construction act was past.

This act gave states access to federal grants to help pay for the maintenance and construction of public health centers. When President Eisenhower was in office, he past the Internal Revenue Act and authorize military Medicare. These acts created tax exclusion for many employers to provided benefits and extend health insurance to dependents. The supply of health insurance increased as commercial insurance companies entered the market. The Union negotiations also reinforce the employment-based health insurance system. The use of healthcare increased as medical technology became more ophisticated and cost started to rise. The government started to encourage employers to offer health insurance as part of employee compensation packages. The problem that came up is that those who retired from their job lost their health insurance. Speeding the process up we enter 1965, were Medicare and Medicaid programs are past in order to provide the elderly with medical coverage. Currently we have a good understand on the development of healthcare. This 20th century healthcare has been getting out of control. There are a number of factors that has drive the cost of healthcare sky high.

This is from medical technology, increasing medication costs, and problems with managed care systems. There are a large number of Americans who don’t have health insurance and can testify that the healthcare system needs to be reform. The 2 primary issues of healthcare that needs to be reform are the available access to healthcare and the affordability of healthcare. Many Americans, with and without health insurance, face crippling financial debt from their medical care. The big question

is what should be done with this large healthcare problem?

Should healthcare be a right given to Americans or should you have to work for it? First of all the Declaration of Independence clearly states that all men have the unalienable right to “Life”. If we don’t have health care to support that natural right then we are like in an ocean that we can fish in all we want but without any supplies to do so. Second of all the Preamble of the Constitution states that its purpose is to “promote the general welfare” which health care has to be included into this idea because it helps promote the general welfare of the people by taking care of them.

In addition, if we give everyone healthcare then people will be able to live longer and more durable lives that can help them work harder to help stimulate our economy. Also, Americans suffer from uninsurance from about $65-130 billion annually due to medical bills. [1] In 2007 62% of all US bankruptcies were related to medical expenses and 78% of these bankruptcies were filed by people who had medical insurance. [2]That is crazy when you think about how much debt Americans are in right now and medical expenses cause a majority of it. All that money could be saved and help the American people get out of debt and stop mooching of the government so much. In addition, if a disease came out of nowhere and started spreading through the American population then so many people would get ill and not go to the hospital. They are nervous of the medical expenses awaiting

them and how it could financially ruin them. This would devastate our country with such ignorance because the disease might kill thousands and cracking the foundation of our society.

Also, health care is an important and crucial service for our society just like public schools and fire department services. Our tax money goes to those services, which help lives, but health care is somehow different, I don’t understand that concept. However other people say no to having healthcare open to everyone for multiple reasons. The role of the government is to protect the rights of individuals to freely pursue their own interests in the economic marketplace without violations of their liberty through coercion, manipulation, or fraud. [3] 9 With this being the main point, no one has a right to health care.

They state that most people wont fall into medical problems if they choose a healthy lifestyle and prevent these problems from happening. In addition, they say that since healthcare will be open to everyone that hospitals will back up with patients and it will take everyone longer to get their treatment and diagnoses. This can lead to major dissatisfaction with the people and maybe death if they are treated too late due to this act which was suppose to help this person live. In addition, they state that since healthcare will be placed on the government now, they must spend more money, which would get them into more debt. 4]Then as a result the government might have to higher taxes and hurt the economy and individual wallets. Also, since the free market rules healthcare right now, this allows competition to flourish

between companies which can help create the best services and most advanced technology made for health. In addition, people might develop a problem know as “moral hazard” which means that people might take riskier actions because they know healthcare already covers them if they get injured. All these points are wrong and narrowed minded views of ignorant people.

Giving healthcare to people will definitely save more lives then what’s happening now. This will also help cause the economy to grow because the taxes put on the people due to this change doesn’t even compare to the hospital bills we pay now. In addition, I believe that the government can create more advanced services and technology due to size of our government’s wallet and spending budget compared to a small company. Also, people wont be stupid enough to kill themselves because healthcare might save there lives, that is just crazy and extremely childish to put your life in harms way.

That idea doesn’t even compare to scope of mankind’s morals right now. In conclusion, we should let everyone have healthcare provided for him or her. This helps stimulate economic growth in multiple areas of our society and keeps the money flowing. In addition, a lot of American people will be pulled out of medical expenses, which they can use their money to put to better uses like food and the necessities of life. Also, this helps secure a natural human right that our society’s foundation was built upon ever since the founding of this free nation of ours.

This position also helps focus on the idea that healthcare should not be earned by

hard work but instead given to Americans as their natural right. By making the right to health care a special case of rights to equality of opportunity, we arrive at a reasonable, albeit incomplete and imperfect. It’s a way of restricting its scope while still recognizing its importance. [5] Healthcare for everyone not only helps our society out right now but also secures a bright future for our future generations to follow and build upon.

Bibliography Vaughn, L. (2010) Bioethics: principles, issues, and cases. New York: Oxford University Press. Jonathan Alter, "Health Care As a Civil Right," Newsweek, Aug. 15, 2009 American Medical Student Association (AMSA), "Arguments and Counterarguments about Health Care Reform," www. amsa. org (accessed Aug. 27, 2009) American Medical Student Association (AMSA), "The Case for Universal Healthcare," www. amsa. org (accessed Aug. 27, 2009) Max Baucus, "Call to Action: Health Reform 2009," www. finance. senate. gov, Nov. 12, 2008

Board on Health Care Services (HCS) and Institute of Medicine (IOM), "Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations," www. nap. edu, 2004 Yaron Brook, MBA, PhD, "There Is No Right to Health Care," www. aynrand. org, July 23, 2009 John Campbell, "John Campbell: A Right to Health Care? ," OC Register, July 13, 2009 Michael F. Cannon, MA, JM, "A 'Right' to Health Care? ," National Review Online, June 29, 2007 Jean Carmalt and Sarah Zaidi, "The Right to Health in America: What Does It Mean," www. cesr. org, Oct. 2004

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), "National Health Expenditures 2007 Highlights," www. cms. hhs. gov (accessed Aug. 27, 2009) Community Voices: HealthCare for the Underserved, "Nation's Health Care System

Ill, Survey Finds," www. wkkf. org, Jan. 13, 2004 ----------------------- [1] Francesca Colombo and Nicole Tapay, "Private Health Insurance in OECD Countries: The Benefits and Costs for Individuals and Health Systems," www. oecd. org, 2004( . [2] David U. Himmelstein, MD, Debors for Individuals and Health Systems," www. oecd. org, 2004?. 3] David U. Himmelstein, MD, Deborah Thorne, PhD, Elizabeth Warren, JD, and Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, "Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study," American Journal of Medicine, Aug. 2009 ? [4] Vaughn, L. (2010) Bioethics: principles, issues, and cases. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 684. [5] Theresa Tamkins, "Medical Bills Prompted More than 60 Percent of U. S. Bankruptcies," www. cnn. com, June 5, 2009? [6] Vaughn, L. (2010) Bioethics: principles, issues, and cases. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 684.