Post Debate Quarterbacking - Is Healthcare a Right? or a Responsibility?
....that was the question posed to both Senator McCain and Senator Obama last night during the second of the presidential debates....
And it speaks squarely to the roots of the debate over healthcare reform.
What do you think? Is healthcare a right? If so, if you believe everyone is entitled to healthcare, at least at certain ages or with certain disabilities, then you also need to have an idea of how to pay for it. Is healthcare a responsibility instead? Do you believe it's up to every American to earn enough money to pay for healthcare for him/herself and his/her family? |
If you aren't sure, then think about the things we do have a right to: fire and police protection, education, even library books.
And then think about the things we have to earn: food, shelter.
Which category do you put healthcare in?
Take our poll, and add your 2 cents in our comment section.
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(See the follow up post to this poll, too: Will Healthcare Be the Election Decision-Maker?
Comments
I also would suggest that we should think about what benefits we as taxpayers might get from having a healthier work force and healthier families with more money in their pockets, if we were to go more towards public funding of health care.
I think the value that we’d add to the American economy by ensuring reliable health care that employers didn’t have to pay for (and that small employers and individuals didn’t have to worry would break them if they had a sick employee or got sick themselves), would be worth the cost of universal health care for all.
Yes, we’d all pay for it in taxes, and also I don’t know that I think that the federal government is necessarily the most efficient mechanism for getting health care to individuals. But I do think it’s likely to be the most efficient we can, as a nation, afford, and that like Social Security and Medicare that we have an real interest in providing it.
I don’t like the “right vs. responsibility” approach, though it is popular and casts the light on the individual who will get health care. I worry that this me-first approach plays into the hands of the insurance companies, who are using our selfish personal interests against us and pit us against doctors, employers and each other in the race to get affordable, accessible and adequate coverage.
Instead, I think we should ask, “what’s best for the whole nation, and what will be best for families and young people?” who are the future of our nation. And when I look at it that way, I really believe that universal health care is the way to go. Neither candidate is promoting universal health care, but Obama’s plan does provide much better guarantees of continued access to care even after someone becomes sick or cannot work, than the McCain plan which basically allows insurers to drop anybody for any reason without notice (or radically jack up their premiums for any reason and with no notice, which is basically the same thing). So I think that Obama’s plan is the better way to go, even though it doesn’t go far enough towards ensuring our country’s citizens continued good health.
I saw the question in a slightly different way… I believe that healthcare is a responsibility—of the government. It is our government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans have proper healthcare. The question gave three choices, the third being “Is healthcare a privilege?”, which would mean it’s something that we the people have to earn… To me, the ‘right or responsibility’ is really two different ways of saying the same thing….but that’s just my interpretation.
I will say that I like Obama’s plan better, because a $5000 credit wouldn’t even BEGIN to cover my health insurance premiums as a self-employed person…and taxing employers on healthcare benefits will just cause more employers to stop providing health insurance at all.
This is not really a question up for debate. It is a matter of record – the Constitution. Thus, this is a question with an easy answer. Healthcare is neither a right nor a responsibility. Healthcare is a service.
Much like food service or transportation, healthcare is a service we can pay for. Food is even more critical than medicine, but food is not a right. We can’t force McDonalds to give us food because we are hungry, or Midas to fix our car because we need to get to work. If we want these services, we can pay for them. Healthcare is no exception.
An argument could be made that healthcare is moral responsibility of business. Something they should want to do for their employees.
However, the argument that healthcare is a right is just, well, wrong. As Americans, our Constitution recognizes our certain “inalienable rights” – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution was subsequently amended, the first ten of which are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is essentially an affirmation of innate individual rights (i.e., life & liberty)and a clear delineation on constraints upon the central government (i.e., right to due process, freedom of association, freedom of speech, etc). Therefore, healthcare is only a “right” of Americans if it is recognized as such in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Interestingly enough, the word “healthcare” cannot be found in either document, much less granted as a “right” in the Bill of Rights. The only way “universal healthcare” can be a right of all American citizens is if there was an amendment to the Constitution stating such. To my knowledge this has not happened.
Still think healthcare is a right? Then Obama is your man. He’s from the government and he’s here to help – with more government.
I disagree with the way you worded the choices in the poll. A responsibility that we must earn? How do you earn a responsibility?
It is our responsibility to pay for our own healthcare, just like we pay for food and other things we buy to take care of our health.
Also health insurance should be available for the consumer to purchase directly from the provider — not through a job or anywhere else. Employer provided health insurance might have been a good idea when it started but now that people don’t stay in one job for their whole career, it just makes it more difficult to lose a job. Not only does the employee lose the income from the job, but also their health insurance. Then the new health care provider at the new job might deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition that developed when the person was under the old insurance. If healthcare was provided to the person directly and not through the employer, this would not be a problem.
We should be able to purchase health insurance the same way we buy car insurance.
I also interpreted differently the question posed to the presidential candidates though I can see where it was a rather vague question (undoubtedly by design). Is healthcare a right, responsibility or privilege? Well, from who’s perspective? I personally believe that healthcare is a right for every individual and it is the responsibility of government to ensure that its constituents’ right to healthcare is protected or provided. I do not believe privilege is a word that should be applied to healthcare. To me, that implies a something over and above basic human needs, something that is a perk.
It is very easy for us Americans to say that we all deserve government paid healthcare. We think that is a great idea, but I think that we should check with and or talk to some Canadians who have this government free healthcare and then we would know some of the problems with this idea. I’ve spoken to a Canadians who says thier healthcare isn’t as good as it sounds. I was told that some of the problems are long, long, long lines and waiting periods (which can be weeks to months) for your doctor because all of the good doctors have too many patients. I was also told that some Canadian chose to fly to the US and pay for a doctor then to have to wait forever for thier doctor.
You have ask the question in such a leading manner that, if you answer it as a responsibility, it is like “Did you beat your wife last night”, come on.
This question does not display the true tradeoff.
As phrased, I would imagine most would view as a right and vote that way because they think that we would all get it for free. As we all know, it is anything but “free”. Tradeoffs are alway difficult, especially in a political environment where promises are being made.
I agree with NatalieKita: “It is our government’s responsibility to ensure that all Americans have proper healthcare.” In this sense, I believe it is a just right for all of us. For example, toxic air is unacceptable yet the EPA keeps loosening its standards. If we had cleaner air, would we NEED as much healthcare (as we know it)?
To Alexander Hamilton’s “This is not really a question up for debate. It is a matter of record – the Constitution. Thus, this is a question with an easy answer. Healthcare is neither a right nor a responsibility. Healthcare is a service.”
ONLY if you define ‘right’ by the Constitution, which you obviously do. I assume you have many rights that aren’t given to you by the Constitution – think about family, the (clean?) water you drink, the (clean?) air you breathe, being able to play, laugh, enjoy recreational activities, or to critically reflect…
In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay.
=right
Yes, this is a limited right to health care by just including “emergency services”.
Learn more about EMTALA here:
http://patients.about.com/od/glossary/g/emtala.htm
I would say that _affordable_ healthcare is a right of the American people. Even in so-called “socialist” countries, where national healthcare is standard, people still pay for it. But the fees are justly calculated, so that it’s affordable.
When we have a rich country where middle-class people still have to avoid doctors’ visits and skip medications because they can’t afford them, there is something very wrong.