1. Jim Sabin used the analogy of old Western films that revolve around stories of good guys versus villainous cowboys to discuss the core value of responsibility in his essay. He used the major characters from the 1953 movie entitled Shane to differentiate the two possible application of responsibility in health reforms. According to Sabin (2009), “Joe and Shane embody the two poles of responsibility in U. S. moral discourse” and are therefore fitting comparison to the role of responsibility in health reforms (p. 7). Just like western films, health reform proposals have their own villains.
According to the essay, the perceived bad guys are the “demanding, entitled individuals” who expect other people to take care of their preferred health care without wanting to contribute financially. Included on this category are the “insurers who siphon money away from health care and into corporate profits and executive pay packages” (Sabin, 2009, p. 7). 2. Sabin emphasized in his essay that “values come from the gut, not the mind” and therefore has options for lapses and the possibility of not solving every nuance in policy making.
3. I would probably not support a health care reform that intends to consider everybody as the same, even those who are pursuing unhealthy lifestyles because this would result to more burdens for everybody when not all people could benefit equally from it. If a health care plan would include the same rate of support to everyone regardless of their age or lifestyle, there would be little improvement on the kind of aid everyone could avail and more financial weight for all citizens.
People should be free in their choice of health care programs but they should also be equally responsible to their actions and no one should be burdened more by the damaging practices of other. Individual responsibility for the consequences of actions committed should still be part of considerations for health care reform. Specifically, people with more detrimental lifestyles already should be given different treatment and be asked to contribute differently since they should be held largely responsible for their need of health care compared to those who are living better lifestyles. 1.
Daniel Callahan’s essay describes the importance of medical research and innovative plans for medical progress have always been a part of the American culture. In fact, “some 80 percent of Americans say they support medical research as a high-priority national goal” (Callahan, 2009, p. 13). Obviously, Americans recognize the importance of continuous quality medical researches for the improvement of health care. Another proof of the prioritization of Americans to medical research is also evident with the continuous growth of the National Institutes of Health and the annual increase of the institute’s budget.
2. Progress has vital implications to policy making. Callahan’s essay also discussed five issues that have significant effect to the value of progress. First of these issues is the “role of research and technological innovation as a main driver of health care costs” (Callahan, 2009, p. 13). They are significant to the dilemmas of the budget because despite their contribution to economic problems, people are fearful of changing or modifying them for it might harm innovation of health care.
The author made a good case about this issue and I agree with him because people are scared of risking change but they do not worry about the risks of losing all the same because the economic dilemmas are also restricting and potentially hurting improvements. The second issue is that “medical care and background social conditions” have comparative roles in improving health care (Callahan, 2009, p. 14). The author suggests also putting more attention and support to other social sectors such as good education.