Is Health Care a Right or a Privilege?
When asked the question whether health care should be a right or a privilege, I have to say I believe it is both a right and a privilege. I believe every American should have the right to affordable health care. Insurance companies don’t seem to want that. Insurance companies seem to be raising premiums and choosing not to cover more and more people Affordable healthcare is needed to prolong life and make America a healthier place to live. When we lose the right to health care, we lose the right to a high quality of life. We are dependent on our health. The life expectancy rate has increase so over the years that people are living longer and needing more health care as they age. So many people can not afford insurance and when they don’t have insurance they choose not to seek medical attention until the last minute. When people have insurance they almost always use prevention as a key part of their health. Healthcare being a privilege is also an important key in a healthy life. We need to take better care of ourselves and our children and know that our health depends on it. Without using the health care system to our benefit, we lose certain privileges. Taking care of all aspects of our wellness should be required. Physical wellness should only be part of how we take care of ourselves. We were given the right when we were born in the Unites States to be “ endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Declaration of Independence, 1776.) Without good health there is no life!
References:
The National Archives. Archives.org (n.d.) Retreived February 5, 2009
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html
References:
The National Archives. Archives.org (n.d.) Retreived February 5, 2009
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html
Your drawing of the evil $60,000 hospital bill reminds me of something my dad told me when I was about 10 years old. I was visiting him in the hospital after he had a "suspicious" lump of icky stuff removed from one of his lungs. (The lump turned out to be nothing significant, some harmless calcification, and his week-long stay at Memorial Hermann ended up costing $40,000.) So, the third day or so, I went to see him. He looked weak and tired and he had a tube sewn into his lung that drained some disgusting (to my ten-year-old self) fluid into a bag. I asked him "How long do you have to stay?" And he said "Well, I don't have insurance, so they're probably going to kick me out pretty soon! Doctors don't like people without insurance, just don't let them know I don't have any."
ReplyDeleteSo I helpfully volunteered to some random nurse "He has insurance! He left it at home, and my mom's bringing it here tomorrow!"
So that's what your drawing reminded me of, priceless childhood memories-thanks.
Anyway, one of the points you made was that when people don't have health insurance, they are likely to put off expensive medical care, even if they are sick. Then you said that people who do have insurance have the luxury of affordable treatment and preventive care. It seems backwards to me, that the people who can't afford care are forced to put it off until the problem gets worse and, possible more costly to treat. I am in favor of health care reform in this country because affordable health care and preventive medicine are the cure for the U.S.'s current health problems, including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.