Compare And Contrast The Arguments In Favor Of Health Care As A Basic Human Right

A right to adequate healthcare is necessary for a society to flourish. According to Levinas ' explanation, businesses assume that self-interest drives human behavior and if people want health care that badly then they will pay what it costs (Degnim and Wood 2007 page 6).Yet, if someone cannot afford healthcare and are denied it, then they are being denied a human right. According to United Nations healthcare is considered a human right (United Nations Article 25 2014). Well, the denial of healthcare or inadequate healthcare for Americans is a complex problem today. Healthcare has not been accessible to all American citizens, at least not until recent changes were made to the healthcare system. On the other hand, Belgium has had universal coverage for its citizens long before America. A large part of Belgium 's healthcare is non private, unlike the USA. I will discuss the healthcare system of the USA and Belgium in terms of the four characteristics of a healthcare system: cost effectiveness, portability and choice, quality, and universal care. I will also discuss the American healthcare reform as an expansion of the former healthcare system.

The right to health care should be considered a civil right. People should not be discriminated against for being sick. Americans who are ill should not have to make the choice between financial ruin or paying for the medical treatments they need to stay alive. Coverage of all Americans would best counter or contain the spreading of epidemics such as the H1N1 flu (swine flu) or smallpox. (ProCon.org 2013, April 12).

As Americans we should all be afforded access to healthcare. Access to healthcare is an individual right according to the human rights amendment. The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all. The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions and a clean environment (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015). However there are strengths and weaknesses to every healthcare system and the U.S. Healthcare system is not exempt. I plan to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the U. S. Healthcare system (What is the Human Right to Health and Health Care, 2015).

The government would be the sole determiner of the number of medical professionals that could work.”( Creech, Mark H. “Universal Health Care Is Unbiblical. ) Is access to health care a human right, or a valued social good, or neither? In 2003 the Institute of Medicine published a report, Insuring America's Health, which contained five principles for evaluating various strategies for health care reform. The first principle, "the most basic and important," was that health care coverage should be universal. The idea that access to health care should be universal, however, has become one of the most hotly debated issues in the ongoing discussion of how to reform the U.S. healthcare system. In Opposing Viewpoints: Universal Health Care, authors explores the

Leonard Peikoff, “Health Care Is Not Right” and Andrew Bradley “Positive rights, negative rights and health care” debate the morality of a government funded health care system. Although both authors give ample evidence in support of their posture on this matter, Andrew Bradley presents a more clear and concise reasoning that supports his belief that “health care is a human right and …should be guaranteed” (Bradley 1). He effectively reveals the fallacies of Peikoff’s “negative rights” and “positive rights” assertion by examining the correlation between the two.

A sensitive topic in the United States today revolves around the issue of healthcare. Is health care a basic human right or is it just a privilege to those who are able to afford it? Health care in the United States is in desperate need of reform. The Affordable Care Act takes that stance that health care is in fact a basic human right and that everyone should have health insurance. When the term “basic human rights” is used, most people think of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This doesn’t necessarily mean that people should be forced to sustain others’ lives, or that they have the responsibility to make others happy because they have a “right” to pursue happiness. You are born with these basics rights that no

Even though free healthcare is negatively associated with U.S. debt, deficit, and higher tax pay, all Americans should have the absolute right to free healthcare because it can save lives.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” If these words are true then why should we segregate one another by a precondition such as Universal Health care? A system that should allow residents of a specific region the opportunity to have healthcare coverage. This paper argues stipulations that all residents should be given the opportunities stated in the founding documents as well as the right to suitable healthcare, economic productivity and, a base for a just nation. In 2014 according to the US Census Bureau 33 million people in the United States which equates to 10.4% did not have health insurance. Thus, possibly assisting with the inability to provide residents with lifesaving treatments and accurate care for those in dire need but were unable to receive certain previsions due to not having health care.

I strongly believe that all American citizens should be entitled free healthcare. This is due to that fact that this can play a big role of ensuring that there is an improved access to health services. In addition, ensuring that all American citizens have an access to the right health care will also decrease health care costs. For instance, by allowing people to receive regular and preventive medical care and not wait until they are persistently ill to request treatment when medical costs are much higher (Niles, 2011). In relation to this free health care will promote equal chance by decreasing the number of people who are economically deprived in society (Niles, 2011). This can be because of bad health and other medically-related financial problems.

Swendiman, K. (2012). Health care: Constitutional rights and legislative powers. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from

One of the great hypocrisies of American culture is found in its health care system. The United States claims in its Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” and that all of these men have the inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Yet this is the same country that allows over 120 people to die each day because they are uninsured. How can this nation claim that all are created equal and have a right to life when they deny healthcare to those who cannot afford it? This issue has come on the scene relatively soon, having only truly been discussed beginning in the early 20th century. Since that time, a fear of socialism stemming from tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union throughout the century has placed a stigma on the concept of universal health care because it is similar to the Soviet’s socialized medicine. In recent years, President Obama made great strides toward universal health care by passing the Affordable Care Act, but some would argue that while America is on the right track, more can be done to care for the nation’s poor. Others argue that the economic impact of such policies could cause problems for America. Though creating a universal health care system has complex logistical and economic consequences, health care is an internationally acknowledged human right and should not be denied to the American people.

Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980’s, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP’s plan imagined every American with insured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney) They expect by fostering prevention, and early prevention, with early diagnosis with treatment, the program would result in decreased health system costs and increased productivity through healthier lives. The way to achieve health care coverage

In the United States Declaration of Independence, the statement “Unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In that remark, ‘life’ was the first right listed and in circumstances like citizens not having free access to healthcare this right of Americans appears contradictory. In the Preamble of Constitution of the United States, states to “promote the general welfare” and acquiring healthcare fit for the people is general welfare (Kucinich). Success with this system is seen inside and outside of a medical center. The NHS (National Health Service in the United Kingdom) currently lists about 14,000 jobs available in a variety of different fields of medicine (AIMS).

The health care system in the United States is one of the greatest concerns facing Americans today and is an issue both moral and economic in nature. Some think the system should stay, for all intents and purposes, the same. They believe that the right to healthcare is a stepping stone toward socialism, and that it is the responsibility of the individual to obtain health care. These are usually the more ideologically conservative citizens and politicians who believe that medicine should remain a free enterprise, not to be constrained by government interference. Then there are those who believe that healthcare is a right, and the federal government has a responsibility to make sure it is available to all citizens, not just those who can afford

Health care is an essential service "like education, clean water and air and protection from crime, all of which we already acknowledge are public responsibilities." Never mind that many Americans do not believe that public agencies are in fact providing adequate schooling, pollution control, and crime prevention. If we think health care is a right, then we should be appalled that the United States is the only western democracy whose citizens do not have universal access to health care. If you think health care is a commodity, then you should accept the fact that some of those without coverage will end up at the mercy of their hospital when the medical bills come due. Realizing that there is no free lunch when it comes to health care. That is why health care should be rationed by government regulations.