Healthcare: Right or Privilege?

Systems of stratification are considered to be systems set in place, whether intended or unintended, to prevent people in the working class to move upwards and to slow the growth of social equality. This system hinders life chances of those who do not have access to wealth, power, or property. Opportunities for individuals that have less are greatly diminished. Those who live in poverty do not have the means to engage in certain activities, due to the lack of resources and funding needed. Some children are unable to achieve certain goals simply because of where they live or are placed in the social hierarchy. For example, a child of above average intelligence living in a government run housing project may not be afforded as much opportunity to excel as a child who lives in an upper class gated community. Some social scientists believe that the poor generally suffer from something called “culture of poverty” in which attitudes of the poor develop and ingrain the acceptance of their conditions within a community,

There will always be a debate over what is considered fair healthcare in America. As long as there is no national healthcare system that is equal for everyone, there will be arguments over whether it is a right or a privilege. Research will show that healthcare is a basic right for every human being in the world, and that by having a national healthcare system in America, this right can be

Health care spending in the United States of America as a percentage of the economy has reached astonishing heights, equating to 17.7 percent. This number is shocking when compared to other counties; in Australia health care is 8.9 percent, in United Kingdom 9.4 percent, in Canada 11.2 percent. If the American health care system were to hypothetically become its own economy, it would be the fifth-largest in the world. While these statistics sound troubling, they lead us to look for answers about the problems surrounding our system. The first health insurance company was created in the 1930s to give all American families an equal opportunity for hospital care and eventually led to a nationwide economic and social controversy that erupted in the 1990s and continued to be shaped by the government, insurance companies, doctors, and American citizens. In this paper, I will go in to detail about the various opinions regarding the controversy, the history behind health insurance companies, and the main dilemmas brought out by the health care crisis. Greedy insurance companies combined with high costs of doctor visits and pharmaceutical drugs or the inefficient hospitals all over America can only describe the beginning to this in depth crisis. Recently, the United States health care industry has become know for the outrageous costs of insurance models, developments of various social and health services programs, and the frequent changes in medicinal technology.

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.

Sick Around the World is a documentary about the five other main capitalist democracies: Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. This documentary talks about how these five countries deliver healthcare and about how the US can learn from them.

As Americans, we pride ourselves in our rights and freedoms. The right to express ourselves freely, the right to bear arms, and the right to pursue life, liberty, and property. However, this has created an entitlement complex in the American people, making it difficult to discern who has the right to what. One of these issues of entitlement is found in the American Health Care system and who has the right to it. Simply put, the Health Care System is the diffusion of medical and health services to the public. However, a problem arises as there is much conflict on whether or not Healthcare is a personal choice or should be provided by the government. It has been a difficult decision-making process as there are extremes on both sides of the argument.

According to Squires and Chloe, the United States of America is considered as the greatest country in the world, with the largest economy, military powers, freedom of religion and speech, and one of the most successful democrats (2). However, the United States in the only western modernized nation that does not offer free healthcare services to all its citizens. Apparently, the costs of the healthcare services to the uninsured individuals in the US are prohibitive, where the insurance companies are interested in making higher profit margins than providing adequate health care to the insured (Squires and Chloe 4). These conditions are unexpectable and incompatible with the United States

Noting that medical care is a privilege, not a right in the United States, discuss the following points: Since quality healthcare can be a matter of life or death, should all Americans have equal access to it? If yes, why don't they? If no, why shouldn't they? Which core American values does the current health care system in the United States, treating health care as a profit-producing commodity to be sold to the highest bidder uphold? Which core American value does it violate? What can and/or should the United States do to ensure that all Americans who get sick have an equal opportunity to get well?

As humans in a developed society, it is necessary to have the ability to seek medical attention; however, we must also probe how we as a civilization will provide and appropriately finance these services. The United States has taken the approach to subsidize medical services with medical insurance, in conjunction with other programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. This approach, however, leaves many holes whereas many may not be able to afford medical insurance, and therefore may not be able to see the medical attention that they require. The question in focus is not whether people have the right to medical insurance, and subsequently medical care, but how we deliver this necessary priority. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s, (PPACA, ACA), intention was to mend the holes in our current health insurance industry. By requiring larger business to offer their employees’ health insurance, and mandating that individuals purchase health insurance, or face a fine, and allowing children to remain on their parent insurance plan until the age of 26, it decreased the number of those who were lacking medical insurance. While it successfully corrected many of the urgent issues the United States’ health insurance industry faced, it also failed to amend other major dilemmas and created new, pressing issues; the PPACA has led to increased costs, dwindling competition within the health insurance market all while violating the constitution.

Everyone has their own views on what they think the United States healthcare system should consist of. Consequently, the healthcare system has been flawed for many years and does not plan to change anytime soon. According to Luft (2006), “rapid and wide-reaching technological innovation, the ready access to care for the insured, and clinical and patient autonomy” (p.1). These are some of the strengths the US healthcare system are proficient in providing. In contrast, the weaknesses of the healthcare system outweigh the system’s strengths. Luft (2006) examined and acknowledged the following:

In the United States, many would believe that all individuals have a right to health care. These citizens believe that everyone should have access to health care and that everyone should have an equal opportunity to get the care they need for themselves and their family. The United States of America has been built with many documents that can be interpreted to support the belief that health care should be a right for everyone.

US health care expenditures have been rising quickly over the past few years; it has risen more than the national financial system. Nonetheless a number of citizens in the US still lack appropriate health care. If the truth be told, health care expenditures are going to continue to increase; in addition numerous individuals will possibly have to make difficult choices pertaining to their health care. Our health system has grave problems that require reform, through reforming, there is optimism that there will be an increase in affordable health care and high-quality of care for America. Medicaid, Medicare and private sector insurances are all going through trials and tribulations because of

The service of good healthcare is essential to the society due to two major causes; reprieve from diseases and improved healthcare facilities for humans (Bowers & Kiefe, 2002). Nonetheless, the healthcare system has been undergoing some extreme difficulties from the very beginning of the 1990s. Speedy progress towards a technique of controlled healthcare and incorporated delivery systems has led the healthcare suppliers to identify the existence of a contest and competitive surge. It's possible to only subsist in this competitive environment when the healthcare provided is beyond the customer's demands and expectations (Lee, Delene, Bunda & Kim, 2000). To be able to provide economical healthcare to the clients, the hospitals have to study the major facets of service quality (Li, 1997).

The debate over health care being a right or a privilege is an extensive one. For some people is like a never-ending story, everybody has a strong personal opinion on this issue, but it seems that nobody gets into a common ground. By definition a right is something which you are entitled to, but when this right becomes a necessity entitled by the sole virtue of being human we called a human right.

As a matter of fact Wise and Yashiro, 2006 assert that there some individuals who describe the America’s system as being fragmented and inefficient, considering the staggering statistics regarding how Americans spend more on health care compared to other countries in the world. Additionally, they suffer from massive insurance costs and uneven quality of care, and thus understanding the debate about the two diametrically opposed viewpoints requires an in-depth understanding of the current health care issues in the United States (Rashidian, Joudaki, Vian, & Baradaran, 2012).