This week’s table talk was about the fundamental question of whether or not healthcare is a right. To answer this question, we first had to define what is a right and who should be the one providing this right (the federal or state government? The United Nations?). A lot of what we take for granted are actually rights, like the right to clean water or trash removal. These responsibilities are handled by the government and there is no debate about it. However, the problem with healthcare is that it is so firmly intertwined to employment. One really interesting thing I learned from the article is that in World War II, the government imposed a wage freeze to keep labour costs from skyrocketing. Employers needed to somehow attract desired employees so the government allowed them to increase health insurance benefits and made them tax-exempt. Because of this context of history, health insurance coverage is tied to jobs leaving those who do not have company jobs (low-wage workers, the unemployed, small business owners, children, the elderly, and the disabled) with more obstacles for attaining insurance.
Unsurprisingly, the US is frequently ranked worst in the developed world for the healthcare system. In my opinion, it’s pretty embarrassing that we even have to have a debate about whether or not healthcare is a right. It comes down to the moral question about whether people who are wealthy have more of a right to live compared to those who cannot afford insurance. GRF Sara was telling us about how when she visits the doctor’s office in Canada (where there is a publicly funded healthcare system), she sees people of all different races and socioeconomic backgrounds in the waiting rooms. But in America, she does not necessarily see that. That was really disheartening to hear and as I reflect upon it, my own experiences match up. Certainly there are drawbacks to universal healthcare and I am not informed enough to come to any sort of conclusion but a system based on discrimination against the weak and poor seems fundamentally wrong. The answer to the original question ‘Is healthcare a right?’ was overwhelmingly ‘yes’ by the other Rose Scholars at the table. With our participation in democracy, I really hope we can progress in the right direction.
I absolutely believe that healthcare is a right and should be made available for all. However, I believe that in addition to making healthcare more accessible, we need to make fundamental changes in our society. We need to lessen the socioeconomic gap and better the welfare of all our country’s residents. I learned in a DSOC class last year that it is not just the inaccessibility of healthcare that results in more health problems for lower class citizens. According to research, those with low income tend to have increased risk of cardiovascular disease, mainly due to the stress that accumulates while having to survive with so little money. Therefore, more accessible healthcare is not the only fix we need to make to improve the health of US residents. We need to better society.
As an international student, before this talk I did not know much about the history of healthcare system in US. This article clarifies a lot of things for me. For instance, why healthcare insurance is related most to unemployed people. I was also impressed by GRF’s comparison about healthcare in Canada and that in US. From my opinion, healthcare should be a right, regardless of race, social background and wealth, because it is a basic living right of humans.
Based on my own experience in Cornell Health, I would like everyone in this country can get that level of health care service.