Health Care a Right or a Privilege

Healthcare is indeed a human right; all people deserve to have it. Yet, in the United States it is considered more like a privilege for people who cannot afford to pay a health insurance due to its’ high costs. So, should all citizens have the right to health insurance? Or is it best to keep it as it is for the sake of our economy. Either a right or a privilege, both options will have consequences that may put the US in a serious situation in the long run. The big picture show that equality for all US citizens will never be reached in regards to this problem. Healthcare in the United States has been a debatable issue and will always be until a fair solution for all economic classes is found. According to Mary S. Koithan (1992) who is the president of the Nevada Nurses Association, “today more than 60 million people, or about 22 percent of the entire U.S. population, are either uninsured or underinsured, this fact alone cries out for health care reform” (para. 1). Looking at these numbers makes you think about how serious this issue really is. Yet, in other countries like Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom healthcare is provided to its’ citizens for free. However, funds to cover the highly costs of healthcare have to come out of somewhere; and all the citizens of that country must pay for it. The United States does not provide healthcare for free, thus making it seem as it is not a right for us but a privilege. Considering the government assistance provided for free in the United States to low income people is being abused; if healthcare is provided as well for free then it most likely will also be abused. According to Rachel Sheffield (2010), 1 out of 6 US citizens receive some form of government assistance; fifty million US citizens are on Medicaid, forty million citizens receive Food Stamps, 4.4 million receive direct cash assistance, and 10 million receive unemployment benefits. If healthcare is provided for all citizens in general regardless of their