Healthcare: right, not privilege

Healthcare is here to take care of the American people, that is, unless the people are old, sick, female, or of a low-income household. That is the way President Donald Trump recently unveiled his subsequently defeated healthcare bill he repeatedly promised on the campaign trail.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan advertised the new plan, dubbed Trumpcare, with much anticipation from those who oppose Obamacare. Once analysts examined the numbers, it was found that the new plan would leave 24 million people without health insurance in addition to defunding Planned Parenthood, cutting Medicaid and giving subsidies to those who do not need them.

Many were quick to recognize the idiocy of Trumpcare, as it left the people who need insurance the most uncovered. While it would have reduced government spending, Trumpcare is not worth the massive costs.

The debate over health insurance has made clear that people are unhappy with their coverage, premiums and more, Trumpcare was clearly not the answer. Instead, it is time to look to the success of healthcare in countries like Norway and Sweden, where healthcare is granted to each and every citizen. Many support the idea of universal healthcare in the U.S., including Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

“Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege,” Sanders explained to betterworld.net. “Every man, woman and child in our country should be able to access the health care they need regardless of their income. The only long-term solution to America’s health care crisis is a single-payer national health care program.”

A prominent argument against universal healthcare is that healthcare should be the responsibility of an individual, not the government or its people. It is a concern that healthcare for all is too socialist and therefore un-American.

According to healthcare.procon.org, “In the United States, people already have a right to purchase health care, but they should never have a right to receive health care free of charge. Health care is a service that should be paid for, not a right.”

This is entirely incorrect, because so many Americans cannot afford the astronomical price of healthcare, especially those caught in the poverty cycle. It is selfish and unjust to leave healthcare up to the individual when too many cannot afford it. To do so is to allow the poor to die of perfectly avoidable or treatable diseases and injuries that they could not afford to have examined.

So while conservatives fight for healthcare coverage for the young, wealthy and healthy, it is the job of everybody else to fight for universal coverage so that healthcare can be a right for every man, woman and child, no matter their income, in the United States.