Proper healthcare that is easily accessible to any American citizen is essential for progress. If the health of citizens, who are workers, is not of the highest priority, then no development will take place because, in the long run, there will be no one to carry it out. The United States was one of the 48 countries that signed the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) which assures everyone a right to an adequate standard including medical care. All WHO member states signed up the World Health Assembly Resolution 58.33, and which allowed every individual to have an access to healthcare minus monetary constraints or restrictions. Though healthcare is an internationally recognized right (Schraufnagel et al., 2017), it, however, should not be made a right and this is why
Necessity is a matter of perspective, so the argument that healthcare coverage is necessary is quite odd. Food, shelter and clothing are also necessities, but food stores, apartments and clothing store owners are not compelled to give them to you just because you need them at any given time. They are all necessities but still commodities. Former congressman by the name Ron Paul was quoted saying that you have a right to life, liberty as well as keeping whatever you have earned freely and legally; however you have neither the right things nor right to services.to services or things. The constitution only promotes general welfare; it does not provide it, as stated in the preamble.
One Way for a government to establish total control over its people is by controlling the distribution of services and, in this case, healthcare. Once it is made a right, then with the single-payer universal healthcare system, the federal government will control how healthcare services are distributed. This is a way of steering the country towards socialism. Ronald Reagan (1961) said medicine has been one of the traditional ways of imposing socialism on a people through socialized medicine through which comes other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom.” countries with Universal healthcare have rationing through controlled distribution, budgeting or price-setting service restriction and cost-benefit analysis.
If healthcare is made a right, this will lead to higher taxes to cater to these bills. In the United Kingdom and other European countries where healthcare is a right, payroll taxes average at 37%, while it is about 15% for an average worker in the US. This will also raise America’s debt and deficit. Expenditure on Medicare, Medicaid, and all other government programs catering to particular population groups was under 10% of the federal budget in 1985. This figure doubled by 2012 and is projected to be at 28% by 2028. Former House Budget Committee chairman reported that healthcare programs drove the explosive growth in government spending and debt. The Committee for a responsible budget (2016) projected that Universal healthcare coverage will result in debt rising to 154% of GDP by 2026 (Jessica Banthin, 2018).
An increase in quantity means lowered quality. Healthcare providers’ focus will be on treating as many patients as possible rather than proper diagnosis due to the increase in the number of patients. All this, coupled with busy schedules and lower salaries, the quality of service is drastically reduced.
You never know the value of something that you did not have to work hard for and the high cost of acquisition makes people responsible. People know the high cost of medical care, and that is why everyone is health-conscious healthcare coverage being made a right means that people will not care about their health and start living unhealthy lifestyles since they can just be treated at no cost (Berdine, 2017).
For something to be considered a right then, at least one should be able to define it. Healthcare is really broad to define, so only certain aspects of healthcare should be made a right, for example, immunization and preventive healthcare.
Anything that compels service from someone else should not be made a right or freely accessible unless the service provider is fully compensated by the government as he would on a free market. Making healthcare a human right is like saying everyone is entitled to an organ transplant. Also, it does not seem fair to cover someone else medical expenses through higher taxes; where else is the money to implement Universal health coverage going to come from? Declaration does not always guarantee provision because making healthcare a right creates a higher demand than the available supply. Healthcare cannot be made a right unless the government makes the providers slaves of citizens; this is an infringement of liberty.
Healthcare should neither be a privilege provided to the highest bidder nor a right given ‘freely’ to all at the higher expense of other citizens. The question of healthcare being a right comes down to how much society is willing to suffer for the well-being of others. If it should be made a right, then no one should be compelled to suffer, but it should be by choice.
References
Berdine, G. G. (2017). Is healthcare a human right? No. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 354(5), 445-446.
Jessica Banthin, “Projections of Federal Spending on Major Health Care Programs,” cbo.gov, May 24, 2018
Schraufnagel, A. M., Schraufnagel, W. E., & Schraufnagel, D. E. (2017). Is healthcare a human right? yes. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 354(5), 447-448.
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