However, when it comes to health care coverage, there is a question of limitations. The right to health care requires a definition of the extent of such. With a wide range of available tests and treatments, there should be a limitation on the coverage of health care (Cannon, 2007). Another question that needs to be answered is payment scheme. Providing every individual with the right to health care requires additional taxes which is equivalent to the extent of the right.
Likewise, patients would ask for additional benefits because the cost would be minimal (Cannon, 2007). Finally, while the right to health care means providing quality medical care to as many patients as possible, granting everyone with the right to health care would also make the goal difficult to achieve (Cannon, 2007). Conclusion/Summary For most Americans, having no health insurance has been a dilemma. According to recent statistics released by the US Census Bureau, 45 million people are uninsured which is 6 percent or 1. 4 million people higher than the 2003 figures.
According to a recent survey by Commonwealth Fund, 1 out of 4 workers with employer-based insurance coverage did not receive medical care due to price and because they could not afford to pay their medical expenses. Among industrialized countries, the United States is the only one without a universal health care system. According to the United Nations Human Development Report, people with no health insurance coverage are less likely to undergo consistent outpatient care which makes them more prone to be hospitalized for avoidable health conditions.
More than 40% of these people do not have a regular place to go when they get sick and more than one-third declared that they had no health insurance coverage. Furthermore, the UNHDR bared that although the United States is the top country in health care expenditures, nations which spend less have more healthy citizens. Health care expenditures in the United States amounts to $2 trillion annually or $6,697 for every individual.
Within the next ten years, the Federal government will allocate $822 billion to the drug and health care sector as part of the Medicare prescription drug plan of 2003. In addition, administrative expenses constitute 31 percent of the entire spending for health care in the United States. On the average, overhead cost for American private health providers is 11. 7 percent while Medicare costs is 3. 6 percent. In Canada, the cost for nationwide health insurance coverage is only 1. 3 percent.
According to the National Healthcare Disparity Report, there are discrepancies in the delivery of health care service among certain groups such as low income families, minority groups, women, elderly, children, handicapped, among others. While minority groups have the biggest problems when it comes to health, they have the lowest rate of health care coverage. Hispanics constitute over two-thirds of uninsured children with fair or poor health. Disparities in the health care system were linked to citizenship and proficiency in the English language.
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured bared that non-American Hispanics who have minimal English proficiency are more prone to having no insurance, unlikely to avail of health care services, and more difficulty in discussing health problems with their providers. For Dr. Don McCanne, who serves as Senior Health Policy Fellow of the Physicians for a National Health Program, every person has the right to receive universal health care. Providing insurance alone will not remove any disparity in health care.
To do this, each individual must granted with the right to health insurance. In February 2006, Sen. Sheila Kuehl sponsored Senate Bill 840 which provides private health care coverage for everyone, which means that the planholder can choose their doctor and provider as well as have a part in making medical decisions. The filing of the bill is not the first attempt of healthcare advocates to provide coverage for all Americans. Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco established the Universal Healthcare Council (UHC) to provide health insurance for its more than 80,000 residents.
The Congressional counterpart, authored by Rep. John Conyers, is the United States Health Insurance Act. House Resolution 676 provides extended Medicare benefits which includes primary care, mental health, dental, long-term care, and prescription drugs to all American citizens. However, when it comes to health care coverage, there is a question of limitations. The right to health care requires a definition of the extent of such. With a wide range of available tests and treatments, there should be a limitation on the coverage of health care.
Another question that needs to be answered is payment scheme. Providing every individual with the right to health care requires additional taxes which is equivalent to the extent of the right. Likewise, patients would ask for additional benefits because the cost would be minimal. Finally, while the right to health care means providing quality medical care to as many patients as possible, granting everyone with the right to health care would also make the goal difficult to achieve.
References
Andreopoulos, S (2003 November 7). Health Care: A Right or A Privilege? The Way Out of A System On The Verge of Collapse. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 17 2008 from http://www. sfgate. com/cgi-bin/article. cgi? file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/07/EDGP52RU6P1. DTL Background on Health Care. Results Educational Fund. Retrieved October 17 2008 from http://www. results. org/website/article. asp? id=839 Cannon, M. F (2007 June 29). A “Right” to Health Care?.
Cato Institute. Retrieved October 17 2008 from http://www. cato. org/pub_display. phppub_id=8477 Moore, M (2008). Facts About Health Care in America. Sicko. Retrieved October 17 2008 from http://www. michaelmoore. com/sicko/_media/SiCKO_sickofactoids. pdf Muhammad, S (2006 October 12). Final Call. com. Retrieved October 17 2008 from http://www. finalcall. com/artman/publish/article_2980. shtml The Nation’s Health Care System – Is Access A Right or Privilege? Library Index. Retrieved October 17 2008 from http://www. libraryindex. com/pages/1820/Nation-s-Health-Care-System-ACCESS-RIGHT-OR-PRIVILEGE. html