A controversial issue in modern day America, is healthcare. Is it a privilege to those who are wealthy enough to afford it, or is it a basic human right that we all deserve? According to John Locke, the basic human rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The second someone is born, they receive natural rights. These rights cannot be taken away from anyone, therefore the three natural rights are protected by our constitution. Debate is on the rise whether or not health care falls under the category of a natural right. Many will agree that everyone deserves to pursue health; however, they will argue that it is not a given right. On the other hand, I disagree because without the resource of healthcare, one is being deprived of their …show more content…
Democracy is centered around the people, hence there should be an urge to support the communities of America. The Constitution itself even states “We the people” have established this constitution “in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” General warfare is declining due to this issue. With large mass of citizens not being able to afford healthcare for their families and themselves should alarm our government. With life at risk, the government should realize that healthcare is a form of natural rights. If healthcare was provided to every single American, a more perfect union would be in action. This is why I believe healthcare should be an American right. All in all, healthcare is a very controversial topic that many don’t want to address. When life, liberty or pursuit of happiness are at risk, the issue is significant. If natural rights are at risk, citizens have a right to rise up and express their feelings. As a democratic country, natural rights are crucial to our identity. The government should take more control and follow the Constitution’s words and form a more perfect union. The lack of healthcare for everyone is unconstitutional and needs to be altered. Not only will this decision affect the generations today, but many generations to
Bradley depicts a certain theory of which "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness really refer to the right to be protected from harm”(Bradley,2). He clearly argues that "because of the special things that it provides and protects, the right to healthcare is necessary for the enjoyment of what are commonly thought of as our basic liberty rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Bradley,1). He states that for negative rights, action in a positive manner must be
In the modern day, health care can be a sensitive subject. Politically, health care in America changes depending on whom is President. Obamacare and Trumpcare are different policies regarding health care, which many people have passionate feelings towards. However, not many Americans are informed about Norman Daniels’ view on health care. Throughout this paper I will be outlining Norman Daniels’ claims on the right to health care, and the fundamental principles in which he derives to construct his argument. By means of evaluating Daniels’ argument, I will then state my beliefs regarding the distributive justice of health care.
...oral responsibility to our communities and our fellow citizens. We can’t in good conscience stand by as millions of our neighbors are denied to basic health care. Nearly 1,500 public events were taken place in all fifty states and the District of Columbia to bring commonly community leaders to retain that all Americans have rights to health care coverage. “For far too many years, our nation has not lived up to its full potential by delaying the day when all Americans will have health care coverage.” (Suffer Health Care Gaps as a Result) Health care is a right, not a privilege.
America is known for democracy, freedom, and the American Dream. American citizens have the right to free speech, free press, the right to bear arms, and the right to religious freedom to name a few. The Declaration of Independence states that American citizens have the rights including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” America promises equality and freedom and the protection of their rights as outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. But with all the rights and freedoms that American citizens enjoy, there is one particular area where the United States seems to be lacking. That area is health care. The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t have some form of legal recognition of a right to health care (Yamin 1157). Health care reform in the United States has become a major controversy for politicians, health care professionals, businesses, and citizens. Those in opposition to reform claim that health care is not a human right, therefore the government should not be involved. Supporters of reform believe that health care is most definitely a human right and should be available to everyone in the United States instead of only those who can afford it, and that it is the government’s responsibility to uphold that right.
In recent years, the number of Americans who are uninsured has reached over 45 million citizens, with millions more who only have the very basic of insurance, effectively under insured. With the growing budget cuts to medicaid and the decreasing amount of employers cutting back on their health insurance options, more and more americans are put into positions with poor health care or no access to it at all. At the heart of the issue stems two roots, one concerning the morality of universal health care and the other concerning the economic effects. Many believe that health care reform at a national level is impossible or impractical, and so for too long now our citizens have stood by as our flawed health-care system has transformed into an unfixable mess. The good that universal healthcare would bring to our nation far outweighs the bad, however, so, sooner rather than later, it is important for us to strive towards a society where all people have access to healthcare.
On March 23, 2010, President Barrack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into legislation. The bill was created to provide affordable and effective health care to all Americans. It has since provided tens of millions of uninsured Americans with affordable healthcare (“ObamaCare: Pros and Cons of ObamaCare”). While doing so, an estimated 31 million still remain uncovered as of 2016 (“Not ‘Everybody’ Is Covered Under ACA”). To this day, the health care plan has remained widely criticized and controversial. Many believe the Affordable Care Act has not done its duty and is unconstitutional to force healthcare upon Americans. Some of the people who share these views believe it isn’t the government’s job to provide welfare. They believe healthcare
The healthcare reform debate has been politicized in the United States for many years where there have been deliberate efforts by various stakeholders to ensure that they push for the reforms that are in line with the cost-benefit aspects that they have already envisioned. In this paper, I will attempt to prove that the reforms that have been witnessed in the healthcare in the recent years have not been effective and helpful to the society as a whole. When President Obama came into office, he promised to oversee great reforms in the healthcare which is his government he face much priority in the social policy aspects. The congress managed to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by President Barack Obama is a significant change of the American healthcare system since insurance plans programs like Medicare and Medicaid (“Introduction to”). As a result, “It is also one of the most hotly contested, publicly maligned, and politically divisive pieces of legislation the country has ever seen” (“Introduction to”). The Affordable Care Act should be changed because it grants the government too much control over the citizen’s healthcare or the lack of individual freedom to choose affordable health insurance.
There has been a lot of talk and debate lately over Health Care Reform, as people are trying to answer the question – Should a universally accessible health care system be implemented in the United States (US)? This ongoing highly debatable issue remains a hot topic among US citizens from all walks of life, from the very poor to the very wealthy. Health Care Reform affects everyone. The vast majority of the US population is very dissatisfied with the current state of health care. According to the ABC News and Washington Post cooperative poll, 57 percent of Americans aren’t satisfied with the overall system of health care (Langer, 2009). Consequently, the issue of the Health Care Reform was born, but before analyzing the actual aspects of this reform it will be wise to brush up on those major attitudes and concerns which occupy ordinary people and how they respond to the unfolding changes in the area of health care and social security.
The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is a new health policy created by the American federal government. Its purpose is to make healthcare more affordable and friendly for the people. Unfortunately in some way that does not prove to be the case. It is becoming apparent that Obama may have made some misleading statements to help get the ACA put into action. The ACA is sprinkled with many flaws that call for a reform such as people’s current plans being terminated, high costs, and at minimum some people’s hours being cut by their employers.
Healthcare is a complicated thing, but there are lots of things that need to be addressed. There is controversy about whether healthcare is a right, responsibility, or a privilege. This essay is going to explain examples of each. The word right can be defined simply as “something to which one has a just claim” (merriam-webster.com). According to the online legal dictionary, the word privilege is defined as “a special benefit, exemption from a duty, or immunity from penalty, given to a particular person, a group or a class of people”. Google dictionary describes responsibility as “The state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something”, or “The state or fact of having a duty to deal with something.”
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and the well-being of oneself and one family, including…medical care” (Should All Americans Have the Right to Health Care). It’s the government’s duty to protect the life of all of its citizens; Universal health care is a step that needs to be taken to protect these lives. Some people argue that providing access to health care will be ineffective and drive up the cost. The government should provide access to universal health care because it protects health, it will lower the cost, and it eliminates discrimination from the health care system.
As we have clearly seen, medicine for profit is not solving the problems of the healthcare system and many people are going bankrupt, dying, and choosing suicide over costly bills. Maybe we should learn from all of these situations and numbers and see that, like the UK did, we should be looking at ways to expand our basic human rights to include healthcare. The question at hand was is healthcare a right or a privilege, reviewing all facts, and data given you will see that Health Care in the United States is a privilege. It seems very vile to have resources, and services to deny a person who has a curable illness or disease, because they don’t have proper health care. However, this is the society we live in where liberty and justice for all comes before healthcare for all.
...ue to numerous medical errors. With the amount of medical errors that currently do occur which is a current health care issue it cost the health care billions of dollar each year to fix the mistakes that were made.
Health care has always been an interesting topic all over the world. Voltaire once said, “The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” It may seem like health care that nothing gets accomplished in different health care systems, but ultimately many trying to cures diseases and improve health care systems.