Is health care a basic right?
Is health care a basic right?
Can it be limited if the cost of providing unlimited treatment is prohibitive?
If so, should it be regarded as a commodity and limited by market mechanisms, or should it be rationed by government regulation? If not, how can the nation pay for it?
Health Care, like all other services comes at a financial cost. While we should strive to make health care available and affordable to all, the bottom line is that it is a service that can only be provided if the voting populous agrees on its need. Basic human rights do not cost money. We have the right to life and liberty which is great and we do not have to pay for it. We have the right to basic medical care as well. But we can only have that if other people pay for it. And that is the problem with health care as a basic human right. The only way it can happen is if the rights of others are curtailed. Some people will be forced to pay for it and others like doctors and nurses will be forced to provide it. All people of the world should be able to receive adequate health care when they need it. How this would work is another question all together. When we are talking about governments providing plans and systems for this to work it starts getting very complicated and ever the best and brightest have not come up with the golden bullet. Much work is still needed to figure this one out. Americans consider health care a basic right. Through Medicare, Medicaid, and employer health plan requirements government has arranged broad access to health care. Yet, like other rights, it is limited. For example, patients in managed care do not have the right to unrestricted care and some expensive treatments.
Medical costs continue their rise and the nation cannot afford lavish, universal health care. Instead of a comprehensive rationing system imposed by government, market forces will determine how, when, and for whom care is limited. The HCA saga is a small, but conspicuous part of this trend.
Can it be limited if the cost of providing unlimited treatment is prohibitive?
If so, should it be regarded as a commodity and limited by market mechanisms, or should it be rationed by government regulation? If not, how can the nation pay for it?
Health Care, like all other services comes at a financial cost. While we should strive to make health care available and affordable to all, the bottom line is that it is a service that can only be provided if the voting populous agrees on its need. Basic human rights do not cost money. We have the right to life and liberty which is great and we do not have to pay for it. We have the right to basic medical care as well. But we can only have that if other people pay for it. And that is the problem with health care as a basic human right. The only way it can happen is if the rights of others are curtailed. Some people will be forced to pay for it and others like doctors and nurses will be forced to provide it. All people of the world should be able to receive adequate health care when they need it. How this would work is another question all together. When we are talking about governments providing plans and systems for this to work it starts getting very complicated and ever the best and brightest have not come up with the golden bullet. Much work is still needed to figure this one out. Americans consider health care a basic right. Through Medicare, Medicaid, and employer health plan requirements government has arranged broad access to health care. Yet, like other rights, it is limited. For example, patients in managed care do not have the right to unrestricted care and some expensive treatments.
Medical costs continue their rise and the nation cannot afford lavish, universal health care. Instead of a comprehensive rationing system imposed by government, market forces will determine how, when, and for whom care is limited. The HCA saga is a small, but conspicuous part of this trend.