Is Healthcare a Universal Right?

Your paper will answer the following questions:

-What are at least two problems of the U.S. healthcare system? (Use Brill's article.)
-What are two policies the U.S. healthcare system should implement from various countries around the world to address these problems? Why?
-Does Medicare for All act properly address these problems, or does it make them worse?
-Do Americans share rights as a common, unifying value?
-Should healthcare be understood as a human right?

Full Answer Section

Policies to Address the Problems

  1. Single-payer healthcare: Single-payer healthcare is a system in which the government is the only payer for healthcare. This system is used in many countries around the world, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Single-payer healthcare has been shown to reduce costs and improve access to care.

  2. Public option: A public option is a government-run health insurance plan that competes with private health insurance plans. The public option would give Americans a choice of health insurance plans and would help to lower the cost of healthcare.

Medicare for All

Medicare for All is a proposal to expand Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities, to all Americans. Medicare for All would provide comprehensive health insurance coverage to all Americans, regardless of their age, employment status, or income.

Medicare for All has been shown to reduce costs and improve access to care. However, it has also been criticized for its potential cost and for the potential for reduced quality of care.

Rights as a Common, Unifying Value

Americans share a common belief in the importance of rights. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, guarantees certain fundamental rights to all Americans. These rights include the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, and the right to a fair trial.

Healthcare as a Human Right

Healthcare is a human right. This means that everyone has the right to access quality healthcare, regardless of their ability to pay. 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 himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services."

The United States is the only developed country in the world that does not guarantee healthcare as a human right. This means that millions of Americans are unable to access the care they need.

Conclusion

The U.S. healthcare system has a number of problems, including high costs and lack of coverage. However, there are a number of policies that can be implemented to address these problems, such as single-payer healthcare and a public option. Medicare for All has the potential to reduce costs and improve access to care, but it also has the potential to increase costs and reduce quality of care. Americans share a common belief in the importance of rights, and healthcare is a human right.

Sample Answer

here are at least two problems of the U.S. healthcare system and two policies the U.S. healthcare system should implement from various countries around the world to address these problems:

Problems with the U.S. Healthcare System

  1. High costs: The United States spends far more on healthcare than any other developed country. In 2020, the United States spent $3.8 trillion on healthcare, which is 19.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP). This is more than double the average of other developed countries, which spend an average of 10% of their GDP on healthcare.

  2. Lack of coverage: Millions of Americans lack health insurance. In 2020, an estimated 27.2 million people in the United States did not have health insurance. This includes people who are unemployed, uninsured, or underinsured.