Free Health Care in America: A Step Toward Equality That Has Yet To Be Taken

by Pualani Havea

Although free health care is often characterized as an individual responsibility, governments with the means to provide universal health care should treat it no differently than any other basic human right.

75 million Americans forego medications due to cost

Despite the countless advances in technology and the abundance of health care organizations popping up all over the place, whether they are free standing clinics, hospitals, urgent cares, etc. many people still lack the ability to receive quality health care at an affordable price. This has become a concern throughout the world, but especially a more vocal concern for residents of the United States in the past few years. There has been an increase of rising out-of-pocket health care costs which has led many to even delay seeking treatment for health concerns in worry of the price they may have to pay which is especially concerning and problematic.

The Problem

About 44 million people in this country have no health insurance, and another 38 million have inadequate health insurance (National Health Affairs, 2018). This means that nearly one-third of Americans face each day without the security of knowing that, if and when they need it, medical care is available to them and their families.

Having no health insurance also often means that people will postpone necessary care and forego preventive care - such as childhood immunizations and routine check-ups-completely. Because the uninsured usually have no regular doctor and limited access to prescription medications, they are more likely to be hospitalized for health conditions that could have been avoided.

Influences on The Controversy 

For more than a decade the country has been hotly debating the availability and cost of health care. Facts and figures continue to be selectively argued, leaving the impression that universal coverage is either a necessary government obligation or an unaffordable social program. If only the policy considerations were so simple. This is a type of rhetoric used in media today speaking on the issue. It is an enormously complex issue subject to a host of competing ethical demands however, within media both sides of the argument use extremes to try to defend their viewpoint. They paint the issue black and white to separate and push people to one side or the other. This is common in politics.

Deliberative rhetoric (or legislative oratory) is also used quite often as a rhetoric device for this controversial topic of concern. Potential outcomes are used to communicate support or opposition for this given policy or action. A tool of rhetoric that is used is predicting future situations. When it comes to predicting future financial outcomes our country would endure while having free health care provided for all political figures like to illustrate what is harmful or beneficial in the future to make an argument.

A Right is A Right

There are rights to which we are entitled, simply by virtue of our humanity. The Enlightenment era valued human rights. This movement stressed the ideas of liberty, fundamental human rights and equality. In the United States, we do not enjoy the right to health care.  Among all the rights to which we are entitled, health care may be the most intersectional and crucial.

Historically, this idea of natural rights also came from the philosophy of liberalism which laid at the core of the French Revolution; this view of equality based on liberty: that we are all brothers and sisters, men and women, who are all equal and the same and deserve equal rights. As a nation we agreed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” (Women’s Rights Convention, 1848). If our country has honored this idea in history then why do we see a separation when it comes to health care? Surely, we are not all equal in our ability to access and afford the health care we all warrant.

Thinking back to the time of the Cold War, we see similar fears of communism and socialism. Both of these economic and political structures promote equality and seek to eliminate social classes while the government, not the citizens, own and operate the means of production. Considering the idea of free health care may instill fear in Americans of this idea that we could be moving away from a constitutional republic.

This Effects You 

Each of us is effected by America's healthcare system. We live in a country where if you are in dire need of medical attention or have been in an accident the ambulance ride alone to get you to a hospital costs hundreds to thousands of dollars.

We live in a country where it is nearly impossible to put a price tag on giving birth. America is the most expensive nation in the world to give birth in. One study showed on estimate that as many as “56,000 families each year still go bankrupt from adding a new family member through birth and additionally, 62 percent of all bankruptcies are caused by illness and medical bills” (Woodhandler, 2010).

We live in a country where even with insurance, you could still accumulate massive medical debt that is not covered with private insurance. Thousands of families in America including myself are trying every day to pay off lofty bills from surgeries, hospital visits, and specialized appointments.

Day after my fourth surgery pretending
 to feel better to get discharged earlier

As a child I can attest to these dilemmas. Due to the fact that my parents were poor yet still making an income we found ourselves in this awkward middle ground in which we were not eligible for Medicaid and yet could not afford private health insurance. Because of this, going to the hospital or the doctors was something I feared because of the considerable worry of the bills we would have to pay that we could not afford. Growing up with a chronic illness I tried my hardest to swallow the pain to avoid being admitted to a hospital all because I worried about the financial burden that would fall heavy on my parents shoulders when we already struggled to make ends meet. No child should ever have to fear a medical bill over seeking treatment for a potential life-threatening condition.

It is no more a privilege based on ability to pay than is the right to vote, which was once accorded only to property owners. Access to comprehensive health care is a human right. It is the responsibility of society, through its government, to assure this right. Coverage should not be tied to employment or how much your income is.


Image credits:

• White Pink and Yellow Blister Packs by Homedust is licensed under CC BY 2.0 
• Design: Healthcare Report by Justin Ritmiller is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
• Recovery by Pualani Havea

Sources:

• Inadequate Healthcare - National Health Affairs
• Dr. Steffie Wooldhandler Research - Dr. Steffie Woolhandler
• Women's Rights Convention - Declaration of Independence