Right to Healthcare

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Charles W (West) Francus

TRADE DEFICIT FOLLOW UP

Join Star City Thinkers for objective discussions.

PER ProCon.org:

28.5 million people in the United States (8.8% of the US population) do not have health insurance. Among people who do have health insurance, 67.2% have private insurance while 37.7% have government-provided coverage through programs such as Medicaid or Medicare. Employer-based health insurance is the most common type of coverage, applying to 56% of the US population. The United States is the only nation among the 36 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations that does not have universal health care either in practice or by constitutional right.

Proponents of the right to health care say that no one in one of the richest nations on earth should go without health care. They argue that a right to health care would stop medical bankruptcies, improve public health, reduce overall health care spending, help small businesses, and that health care should be an essential government service.

Opponents argue that a right to health care amounts to socialism and that it should be an individual’s responsibility, not the government’s role, to secure health care. They say that government provision of health care would decrease the quality and availability of health care, and would lead to larger government debt and deficits.

KEY REVIEW MATERIAL:

PRO and CON Arguments

https://healthcare.procon.org/

History of the Right to Health Care

https://healthcare.procon.org/history-of-the-right-to-health-care/