My Thoughts About Americas Healthcare System

In my personal opinion, I consider healthcare to be a right to the citizens of America. It is the public’s job to provide healthcare as a right, however, with some limitations. It is nearly economy impossible to provide free healthcare for millions of people, so Americans have to pay for it. Healthcare is also a limited resource, because of the amount of supplies and healthcare professionals, and tying to incorporate a limited resource with a high demand is impractical. Although the government generally does not involve itself in private business, I still believe healthcare is a right to all people. The United States claims to be a free market country where the government does not typically intervene in home insurance or things like car insurance. The United States also does not have a universal healthcare program, unlike other countries in the world where their government would control healthcare and provide it for everyone, free of charge.

For this reason, in America, most patients will have to pay for their healthcare or have it paid for by their employer. The Declaration of Independence (1776) stated “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Also, one of the main purposes of the Constitution is to promote general welfare and this strictly falls under healthcare obligations. In my opinion, to deny someone a healthy and thriving life would be the same as imposing on their right of life. While the majority of Americans can afford healthcare or have it provided for them, there are several living in the country who do not benefit from it. With this being said, when it comes to life threatening emergencies, doctors and hospitals in the United States will treat a patient regardless of their healthcare status.

David, from Cortland, gave his story to The Stanford Daily regarding his near death experience with appendicitis. He said “After graduating college 10 years ago, I was without health coverage. I developed appendicitis and had to have surgery. It was that or die. I had my student loan debt and accumulated new health care debt. It cost over $14,000 to make sure I did not die from appendicitis. I now have a full-time job with health benefits that I pay for, and I am lucky for that. I can pay my part. We need to provide coverage to everyone. No one should have to second-guess debt in exchange for life.” Because of this reason, I believe that healthcare is seen as a right, when direly needed, regardless of financial status.

Along with my belief that healthcare is a right, I strongly hope that healthcare can evolve into a more equal and free system for everyone in the future. The Affordable Care Act has helped our economy tremendously by banning discrimination due to preexisting conditions as well as reducing the number of uninsured by nearly 20 million. However, there are still millions of people in debt because the lack the accurate healthcare needed to treat their illnesses. If America would provide universal healthcare, there would be significant changes to what people are used to. People will have to sacrifice their insurance, wait in long lines, and possibly pay more taxes. However, this is for care to be given to those who need it the most. Consequently, I believe that Americas healthcare system is a right for the people because of what our founding fathers stated in the Declaration of Independence and because our medical facilities will treat patients regardless of their healthcare status.