Healthcare: A Right or a Privilege? Essay

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Introduction

In many countries of the world, particularly the US, there is an active discussion about policy reforms and laws, which will help establish the situation in the country when a right or will be a privilege. It is essential to understand that if some opportunities and tools will theoretically allow all population groups to get good healthcare, the lack of faith in healthcare as a right is due to the ineffectiveness and illiteracy of the existing methods. The argument of the essay rejects the opinion regarding the privileged of qualitative healthcare and stresses that poor people can have the right to this, provided that the government’s actions are competent and correct in-laws, effective policy reforms, and equitable social hierarchy. Despite the belief of many people that quality health care should be highly paid for and, therefore, be a privilege, the right to this healthcare can be obtained by everyone in the presence of literate and fair laws and police reforms.

Supporting Point One

As the first supporting point for the essay’s argument, one should stress that all people live in society and are united and dependable on each other. In this term, healthcare as the right for poor people who cannot afford high-cost medicines lies in a proper and justiciable social structure where every person will help others. It is essential that the rich people not use their status and power, so the poor will not have a right and access to qualitative healthcare. As an example of this supporting point, it will be vital to highlight the concept of the neighborhood of people, which Karla Butts determines in her book Healthcare as a Right, not a Privilege. As Butts states, “interruptions to success in this process come when people in positions of power neglect to recognize that less inclusive social perspectives have a human cost” (9). Therefore, the first supporting point highlights that making healthcare a right but not a privilege is possible because of equality. Consequently, the appropriate policy reforms should help to implement this idea into life and make justifiable rights for healthcare for both poor and rich people.

Supporting Point Two

The following supporting point refutes the concept of privileged healthcare. It supports the essay’s argument in terms of the possibility of applications of different types of health care providing and collaboration with other people groups. Underlying this supporting point is the understanding that to create public healthcare as a right for all people, such instruments and approaches as volunteering, donations, and various programs and initiatives are crucial. This fact rejects the concept of privilege in medicine, as it gives poor people the right to quality healthcare even without the necessary financial means (Maruthappu 5). On the one hand, this approach is a continuation of the concept of the previous paragraph regarding neighborhoods in society. On the other hand, in the case of the instruments mentioned above, the involvement of the State and the implementation of these methods at the legislative level are crucial. It will help make the cases of volunteering and donations in medicine not isolated and rare, but introduce them permanently, which will help poor people legitimately demand quality medicine as part of their rights.

Supporting Point Three

When considering the third supporting point, it is vital to give an example of other developed countries to compare the situation with healthcare in the United States. In many countries, such as the U.K. or Canada, healthcare provides the population the right (Rice 39). In this context, it is worth highlighting one crucial feature that is the indirect result of this concept, which positively impacts society. In the U.S., there are always situations that demonstrate specific problems with equality among different population groups. The right to healthcare for all will launch positive societal processes, beginning the movement toward equality and justice. By installing healthcare as a right, people will understand that non-discrimination becomes possible.

Counterargument

As a counterargument, which will emphasize the correctness of healthcare as a privilege, one should highlight the average quality of medical services when adopting the concept of healthcare as a right. Certain medicines and medical equipment are expensive and require substantial funding. Therefore, as a supporting point for the counterargument, such tools as volunteering or donations will not be able to cover the cost of these medicines. As a result, these services will become inaccessible to the poor and the rich (Loewy and Erich 4). The negative effect of healthcare as a right will be establishing a specific limit on the level of quality, as it will be forced to adapt to the needs of poor people who do not have enough money to pay for all the medical services they need. Consequently, the health sector will be underfunded at the State level, affecting its quality and range of services.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it will be necessary to stress that healthcare as a right and a privilege have advantages and disadvantages. However, given all the supporting points described in the essay, one can state that the right to quality healthcare can be granted to all segments of the population. In the context of considering a particular sample of people, poor groups were chosen. After identifying supporting points and using various sources of literature and articles, it became clear that the concept of healthcare as a right has significant benefits for society, such as equity and overall health improvement. The right laws, effective reforms, and justified society are crucial to its achievement.

Works Cited

Butts, Karla. Healthcare as a Right, not a Privilege: Reshaping America’s Moral Lens, 2016.

Loewy, Roberta Springer, and Erich, Loewy. “.” Medscape General Medicine, vol. 9, no. 1, 2007, p. 53, Web.

Maruthappu, Mahiben, et al. “.” Annals of Medicine and Surgery, vol. 2, no. 1, 2013, pp. 15–17, Web.

Rice, Thomas. Health Insurance Systems: An International Comparison. Academic Press, 2021.

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IvyPanda. (2024, February 28). Healthcare: A Right or a Privilege? https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthcare-a-right-or-a-privilege/

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IvyPanda. (2024) 'Healthcare: A Right or a Privilege'. 28 February.

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IvyPanda. 2024. "Healthcare: A Right or a Privilege?" February 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/healthcare-a-right-or-a-privilege/.

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