Overview: "Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care?"
Health care is the largest industry in the United States, employing more than 14 million people nationwide. US health expenditure totaled $2.2 trillion in 2007, comprising 16.2% of the US economy.
77% of Americans say that they think health care should be a right(40 KB). Others argue that it is not the government's responsibility to guarantee health coverage for its citizens. The US Census Bureau reports that 46.3 million people in the US were uninsured(3 MB) in 2008, although some groups contend that this figure is inflated and misleading due to flawed methodology and the number's inclusion of undocumented immigrants and people who choose not to obtain insurance.
Many Americans say our health care system works well and that reform is not needed; however, according to a 2009 peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Medicine, 62.1% of all US bankruptcies in 2007 were related to medical expenses(119 KB) and 78% of these bankruptcies were filed by people who had medical insurance.
Partisan views in Congress differ on the means through which universal coverage should be achieved, if at all, and a fundamental debate also remains on whether health care should be guaranteed to all Americans.
Background: "Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care?"
Opponents argue that guaranteeing all Americans health care will decrease the quality and availability of health care in the United States. The US is estimated to have the highest prostate and breast cancer survival rates(1 MB) in the world. According to the 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM) publication "Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations," the US health care system is the "most responsive" in the world to nonhealth aspects of care, including patient confidentiality, consumer preference, short wait time for elective procedures, and it also ranks high in medical technology availability.
Both proponents and opponents of the debate appeal to documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as evidence supporting whether or not all Americans should have the right to health care.
A Sep. 2009 US Census Bureau report found that 46.3 million people in the United States (15.4% of the US population)(3 MB) did not have health insurance in 2008. Some groups contend that this figure is inaccurate or misleading because it may include undocumented immigrants, the methodology may be flawed, many people eligible for insurance enrollment may have explicitly chosen not to enroll, or people enrolled in Medicare may have said they have no insurance because they have no private insurance. In 1944 the US Supreme Court ruled in United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters(322 U.S. 533) (217 KB) that insurance companies were part of interstate commerce, thus subject to federal regulation and anti-trust laws. Overriding the Supreme Court's ruling, Congress passed the McCarran-Ferguson Act(71 KB) in 1945 that has since protected insurance firms from federal prosecution for price fixing, bid rigging and carving out protected markets.
The cost of health care has become increasingly unaffordable for many working families. 62.1% of all US bankruptcies in 2007 were related to medical expenses(119 KB) and 78% of these bankruptcies were filed by people who had medical insurance. While the majority of uninsured people were from low-income households, 38.3% of the uninsured had an annual household income of at least $50,000. Since 2000, health insurance premiums have risen three times faster than wages.
Health care reform to provide universal coverage was first proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" in 1938(192 KB), then again by President Harry S. Truman's "Fair Deal" in 1945, by President Richard Nixon in 1971, and more recently by President Bill Clinton's administration(840 KB) in 1993. Each attempt faced staunch opposition from varying interest groups and did not result in the passage of universal health coverage legislation.
During the second presidential debate on Oct. 7, 2008(213 KB), US President Barack Obama, then a presidential candidate, said health care should be a "right for every American." In his June 15, 2009 speech(77 KB) delivered to the American Medical Association (AMA), President Obama stated, "Make no mistake: The cost of our health care is a threat to our economy. It is an escalating burden on our families and businesses. It is a ticking time-bomb for the federal budget. And it is unsustainable for the United States of America." He urged Congress to craft legislation that would ensure coverage for all Americans.
Pro & Con Arguments: "Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care?"
PRO Right to Health Care
All Americans should have a right to health care because the Declaration of Independence states that all men have the unalienable right to "Life," which entails having the health care needed to preserve life.
Health care is a right for all Americans because the Preamble of the US Constitution states its purpose is to "promote the general welfare" of the people. Just as all Americans have the right to an education, they should have the right to health care because they both "promote the general welfare."
Health care is a human right. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one’s family, including... medical care."
All Americans should have the right to health care as do citizens of other nations. The United States is one of the few, if not the only, developed nation in the world that does not guarantee health coverage for its citizens. [1]
Ensuring that all Americans have the right to health care will decrease health care costs by allowing people to receive regular and preventive medical care and not wait until they are chronically ill to seek treatment when medical costs are much higher.
Providing all citizens the right to health care is good for economic productivity. When people have access to health care, they live healthier and longer lives, thus allowing them to contribute to society for a longer time. The cost of bad health and shorter life spans of Americans suffering from uninsurance amounts to $65-130 billion annually. [2]
Lacking health care can lead people to suffer from anxiety, depression, sickness, and stress, and other symptoms that affect not only individuals, but families and communities of that individual as well.
Health care costs are unaffordable and bankrupting Americans. In 2007, 62.1% of all US bankruptcies were related to medical expenses and 78% of these bankruptcies were filed by people who had medical insurance. [3][4]
Guaranteeing the right to health care will encourage entrepreneurship, which is good for job creation. Currently people are afraid to start their own business for fear of losing the health insurance provided at their existing job.
Health care should be a right because it will promote equal opportunity by decreasing the number of people who are economically disadvantaged in society due to bad health and medically-related financial trouble.
Health care services are crucial to the functioning of a community, just like trash and water services, and should therefore be guaranteed like these services are to all Americans.
The right to health care should be considered a civil right. People should not be discriminated against for being sick. Americans who are ill should not have to make the choice between financial ruin or paying for the medical treatments they need to stay alive.
Coverage of all Americans would best counter or contain the spreading of epidemics such as the H1N1 flu (swine flu) or smallpox.
CON Right to Health Care
Health care should not be a right because it is inconsistent with the Declaration of Independence, which guarantees the right to "pursue" happiness, not the right to happiness or free medical services.
Health care should not be considered a right because the Preamble of the US Constitution states that its purpose is to "promote" the general welfare, not to provide it.
Health care should not be considered a right because it is not listed in the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution. The Bill of Rights lists people's rights that the government cannot infringe upon, not services or material goods that the government must ensure for the people.
It is the individual's responsibility, not that of the government's, to ensure personal health. Diseases and health problems, such as obesity, cancer, stroke, and diabetes can often be prevented by individuals choosing to live healthier lifestyles.
No one should be entitled to health care because it is a service and a material good that a person must pay for to obtain.
Guaranteeing everyone health care will lead to longer wait-times for patients to receive diagnoses and treatment of illnesses, as is the case in Canada and the UK, potentially denying patients with chronic diseases timely medical care. [5]
Providing a right to health care is socialism and is bad for economic productivity. Socialized medicine is comparable to food stamps, housing subsidies, and welfare--all of which is charity. Distributing charity to society makes people lazy, decreases the incentive for people to strive for excellence, and inhibits productivity.
A right to health care is unadministratable because it is too ambiguous what kind of treatment and services should be guaranteed.
Guaranteeing health care as a right will lead to an increase in demand for health care that will decrease the quality of care because health care professionals will be overstretched.
History has shown that granting health care as a right would lead to greater government deficits. Every time the government intervenes in health care, such as with Medicare and Medicaid, there is a greater redistribution of wealth and greater government spending.
If health care is considered a right, then government bureaucrats will be making health, life, and death decisions that should be up to the patient and doctor to decide.
Allowing health care coverage to be driven by the free market without government intervention increases competition and the incentive for providing higher quality medical technology and service.
Providing health care to everyone is a huge expense and may result in tax increases thereby futher harming the economy and individual pocketbooks.
Guaranteeing health care for all Americans will lead to a problem known as "moral hazard," meaning that people will take riskier actions because they know that if they get hurt, they are guaranteed health care coverage.
Anti-health care reform protesters at Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, NC. Source: "No to Changes: People Opposed to Obama's Proposed Health-Care Reform Protest Outside Hanes Mall," www.journalnow.com, Aug. 4, 2009
US President Barack Obama addresses the White House Forum on Health Reform. Source: "White House Forum on Health Reform," www.whitehouse.gov, Mar. 5, 2009
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) marchers supporting health care as a human right. Source: "Twenty-Seven Arrested at NYC Protest (including 8 from PNHP) Hundreds March for Single Payer Universal Health Care," www.pnhp.org, Mar. 29, 2007
A temporary free heath clinic set up for eight days by Remote Area Medical at the LA Forum in Inglewood, CA treating per day approx. 1,500 patients, some of which waited 36 hours outside to seek medical care. Source: "The Brutal Truth about America's Health Care," Independent (UK), Aug. 15, 2009
Political cartoon on health care reform in the United States. Source: Tom Toles, "Slowing Down Healthcare Reform," Washington Post, available on www.fogcityjournal.com, Aug. 7, 2009
Thousands line up outside the Virginia-Kentucky Fairgrounds for basic health care, provided by Remote Area Medical. Source: "The Doctor Is In—In the Heart of Appalachia," AARP Bulletin Today, July 26, 2009
B. Video Gallery(click image to watch video)
US Representative Ron Paul, MD, (R-TX) explains why he believes there is no "right" to health care, while debating the single payer system with other doctors. Source: "Health Care in America," Larry King Live, CNN, available on www.ronpaul.com, Aug. 11, 2009
US President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress on health care reform. Source: "Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care," www.whitehouse.gov, Sep. 9, 2009
US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) hearing on Health Care Reform. Source: "Hearings and Executive Sessions: Health Care Reform," www.help.senate.gov, June 11, 2009
Readers' Comments
We post pro, con, and not clearly pro or con comments in the approximate ratio that we received them. We sometimes edit comments for brevity, clarity, and spelling. We may also remove comments posted when we find better comments covering the same issues or for other good reasons.
PRO Right to Health Care
CON Right to Health Care
"The right to health care is a moral as well as constitutional issue in our nation... There is no such thing as a wealthy nation that is not also a healthy nation...
The government and citizenry should neither balk at the economic investment to be made in the provision of universal healthcare nor shy away from the responsibility of holding individuals responsible for their own lifestyle choices." Dr. Pedro C., Oct. 5, 2009
"All Americans should have the right to health care. It should be supported by our government and ourselves, paid for by our taxes and as a payroll deduction. Taxes should not be feared or shunned. It is how we run a country. Paying taxes is patriotic! It is a moral imperative that we take care of each other. We have fire departments, police departments to help keep us safe, schools to help educate our children, and these things are paid for by taxes and bonds. Health care should also be supported by the government, which is us! It should be fine if some want to purchase other insurance to make sure that they are provided with the best of everything. But essential care should be provided." Lynne, Oct. 2, 2009
"All other industrialized democracies guarantee health care for everyone - rich or poor, young or old, native or immigrant. It is our national shame that the richest country in the world leaves ten of millions of its citizens uninsured, allows more than 20,000 Americans die each year because they lack insurance, and lets some 700,000 people go bankrupt due to medical bills each year. To the rest of the developed world, we are immoral; I agree. Future generations will look at this time and wonder why in the world we were so blind and so unresponsive to the needs of our less fortunate citizens. Our only answer will be greed." Pat, Sep. 19, 2009
"A truly national health care policy should include health care for all with the attendant responsibility of paying some of the cost of that health care. It's a right and a responsibility--something many citizens forget." Richard, Sep. 18, 2009
"To put it bluntly: As an individual, I am not entitled to any more health care than I can provide for myself or that I am able to purchase from others, or that I am able to obtain freely from those who offer such free services.
Reasoning? Simply because as a free and independent person, I cannot legally force -- nor may I demand my government to force any person to provide services to me if they do not desire to do so. The absolute best I might hope to attain is the assistance of government, through the courts, to enforce a contract I might legally enter into with a health care provider. This is one of the several founding ideals for the United States: independence, individual freedoms, and personal responsibility. None of these are to be forced upon another." Daniel, Oct. 30, 2009
"I am against health care entitlement. Nothing in this life is 'free' and one should be left to their own free will as to how to spend their money. On the other hand, if one chooses not to purchase health care, then society should have no duty to provide it for free. You only get what you pay for." Alan, Sep. 29, 2009
"Healthcare is a good. Not every good is a right. Consider another good: food. People need food to live, but no one believes that the government is required to provide food for everyone. In a capitalist system, goods are created and distributed by the market, not by government. It's simply a misuse of rhetoric to label healthcare as a right." Anonymous, Sep. 24, 2009
"...[T]he expensive nature of health care means that there are huge consequences to grant a 'right' to health care to everyone.
Medicare does this for citizens over 65 and it has accumulated unfunded liabilities of about 60 trillion over the next 75 years. This is truly unsustainable. If government could fix the Medicare bankruptcy by doing away with fraud and abuse or preventive medicine or information technology they would have already done it... Instead they propose to make the indebtedness much worse by extending a Medicare like 'public option' to many more people and invent bogus ways it will be funded. It will really be funded by raising taxes, issuing even more massive amounts of government debt, and by decreasing benefits (translation, rationing).
Every bill now before Congress includes a 'panel' of experts'... to decide which treatments are of enough 'proven benefit' for the 'public option' to pay for... I do not trust any group of strangers to make such decisions for me. When your 'right' to health care will be paid for by others... then the representatives of those taxpayers will decide exactly how the money is to be spent...
The truth is I have a 'right' only to as much health care as I can pay for myself..." Dr. W, Sep. 20, 2009
NOT CLEARLY PRO OR CON Right to Health Care
"The United States is currently the only 'developed' nation that does not provide universal health care to it's citizens. This is only due to the greed of the insurance companies, and from the selfishness and hypocrisy of people who don't care about anyone but themselves, but claim to be 'Christians.'" Craig, Sep. 23, 2009
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Footnotes & Sources
The summary and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from the following footnotes and sources:
Footnotes:
Francesca Colombo and Nicole Tapay, "Private Health Insurance in OECD Countries: The Benefits and Costs for Individuals and Health Systems," www.oecd.org, 2004
Board on Health Care Services (HCS) and Institute of Medicine (IOM), "Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America," www.nap.edu, 2003
David U. Himmelstein, MD, Deborah Thorne, PhD, Elizabeth Warren, JD, and Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, "Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study," American Journal of Medicine, Aug. 2009
Theresa Tamkins, "Medical Bills Prompted More than 60 Percent of U.S. Bankruptcies," www.cnn.com, June 5, 2009
Scott Atlas, MD, "10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care," www.ncpa.org, Mar. 24, 2009
Sources:
Jonathan Alter, "Health Care As a Civil Right," Newsweek, Aug. 15, 2009
American Medical Student Association (AMSA), "Arguments and Counterarguments about Health Care Reform," www.amsa.org (accessed Aug. 27, 2009)
American Medical Student Association (AMSA), "The Case for Universal Healthcare," www.amsa.org (accessed Aug. 27, 2009)
Max Baucus, "Call to Action: Health Reform 2009," www.finance.senate.gov, Nov. 12, 2008
Board on Health Care Services (HCS) and Institute of Medicine (IOM), "Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations," www.nap.edu, 2004
Yaron Brook, MBA, PhD, "There Is No Right to Health Care," www.aynrand.org, July 23, 2009
John Campbell, "John Campbell: A Right to Health Care?," OC Register, July 13, 2009
Michael F. Cannon, MA, JM, "A 'Right' to Health Care?," National Review Online, June 29, 2007
Jean Carmalt and Sarah Zaidi, "The Right to Health in America: What Does It Mean," www.cesr.org, Oct. 2004
CBS News and New York Times, "American's Views on Healthcare," www.cbsnews.com, Apr. 6, 2009
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), "National Health Expenditures 2007 Highlights," www.cms.hhs.gov (accessed Aug. 27, 2009)
Michel P. Colman, et al., "Cancer Survival in Five Continents: A Worldwide Population-Based Study (CONCORD)," Lancet Oncology, Aug. 2008
Community Voices: HealthCare for the Underserved, "Nation’s Health Care System Ill, Survey Finds," www.wkkf.org, Jan. 13, 2004
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), "Testimony of Mary Andrus Assistant Vice President, Government Relations Easter Seals and Co-chair of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Health Task Force On behalf of the CCD Health Task Force, CCD Long Term Services and Supports Task Force, Before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee," www.help.senate.gov, June 11, 2009
Michael Davern, "The Unhealthy Accounting of Uninsured Americans," Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009
Economist, "You Get What You Pay For," www.economist.com, July 21, 2008
Health Care for American Now!, "Testimony by Richard Kirsch National Campaign Manager Health Care for America Now" before the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, www.energycommerce.house.gov, June 23, 2009
HealthReform.gov, "Hidden Costs of Health Care: Why Americans Are Paying More but Getting Less," www.healthreform.gov (accesed Sep. 14, 2009)
David Kelley, "Is There a Right to Health Care?," www.objectivistcenter.org, 1993-1994
Dennis Kucinich, "A New Movement: Health Care as a Civil Right," OpEdNews, Sep. 9, 2009
John David Lewis, PhD, "Health Care, Why Call It a 'Right'?," www.huffingtonpost.com, Aug. 12, 2009
National Health Care for the Homeless Council, "Human Rights, Homelessness and Health Care," www.nhchc.org (accessed Aug. 27, 2009)
New York Times, "A History of Health Care Reform," www.nytimes.com (accessed Aug. 27, 2009)
New York Times, "Clinton's Health Plan: The Final Draft in Detail," www.nytimes.com, Sep. 11, 1993
John Mackey, "The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare," Wall Street Journal, Aug. 11, 2009
Barack Obama, JD, "Remarks by the President at the Annual Conference of the American Medical Association," www.whitehouse.gov, June 15, 2009
Barack Obama, JD, "Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care," www.whitehouse.gov, Sep. 9, 2009
Hugh O'Connor, "New Deal Pushes Medical Care Plan," New York Times, Oct. 27, 1938
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), "OECD Health Data 2009 - Frequently Requested Data," www.oecd.org, June 2009
Sarah Palin, "Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care," Wall Street Journal, Sep. 8, 2009
Robert Pear, "Health Spending Exceeded Record $2 Trillion in 2006," New York Times, Jan. 8, 2008
Leonard Peikoff, PhD, "Health Care Is Not a Right," www.bdt.com, Dec. 11, 1993
Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates (PSB), "Divided We Remain: August 2009 Poll of Americans' Attitudes toward Health Care Reform," extras.mnginteractive.com, Aug. 25, 2009
Mike Rosen, "Rosen: No 'Right' to Health Care," Denver Post, Aug. 13, 2009
Michael Tanner, "50 Million Uninsured Americans?," Financial Post, Aug. 18, 2009
United Nations (UN), "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights," www.un.org, Dec. 10, 1948
US Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), "Overview of the Uninsured in the United States: An Analysis of the 2007 Current Population Survey," www.aspe.hhs.gov, Sep. 2007
US Census Bureau and US Department of Commerce, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007," www.census.gov, Aug. 2008
Wall Street Journal, "Transcript of the Second Presidential Debate," www.wsj.com, Oct. 7, 2008
World Health Organization (WHO), "World Health Statistics 2009," www.who.it, 2009
David Welna, "Democrats Push to End Insurers' Antitrust Exemption," www.npr.org, Oct. 23, 2009
Miles J. Zaremski, "Health Care and Its Reform: A Right vs. a Service?," www.huffingtonpost.com, Apr. 6, 2009
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website provides a summary of the debate on whether or not all Americans should have a right to health care.
. Others argue that it is not the government's responsibility to guarantee health coverage for its citizens. The US Census Bureau reports that 
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