Universal Healthcare Is An Undeniable Human Right, Not A Privilege

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a paper adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to be the unifying document of human rights states: 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person'(Roosevelt). Health care is a problem that has been plaguing the United States for many years. Every single person needs healthcare in order to stay healthy, but because of the expense, not everyone can afford it. this Today, in America, health care is to be paid for by everyone, and not many people can afford to live their own lives. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is said that everyone 'has the right to life'. Health care is an inalienable human right because humans need medical aid to survive, health care clearly falls onto the definition of human rights, and because universal health coverage is an attainable goal. In order to live a normal, proper, and healthy life, humans need health care; and in a world where the amount of people who cannot afford such a thing outnumbers the number of those can, health coverage must be given. The Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to life…'. The right to life is an undeniable human right, so the thing that helps you live cannot be denied due to monetary differences. Many people disregard universal health coverage as a viable option because they think it is an absurd and unattainable goal, however, if more than 70 countries were able to pass universal health coverage laws, then it should be available around the world.

Health care, and the ability to treat your superficial wounds, and more often than not more serious medical ailments is to some, what separates life and death. In countries where health care itself is sparse, such as remote areas in Africa and South Asia, preventable diseases such as malaria lead to a surplus of death. According to the CDC, “Left untreated, [people with malaria] may develop severe complications and die”. In 2016, more than 200 million cases of malaria left more than 445,000 people dead. With medical treatment, the horrifying number of deaths by a completely treatable ailment could decrease dramatically. Medical intervention could not only decrease the number of deaths but also reduce the number of cases of malaria. With treatment comes knowledge, and the knowledge of how to avoid preventable diseases is a luxury when knowledge should be the one thing that can be accessible by everyone. Free Health care would also help eradicate other issues in the health industry. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, a reputed source in the health industry, concurs with this. This study consisted of “3958 people between the ages of 14 and 61 who were free of disability that precluded work and had been randomly assigned to a set of insurance plans for three or five years”. One of the given healthcare plans was made free, the other made the subjects have to pay for their medical care. The results showed that the people who had free health care visited the doctor more, and went to the hospital for serious ailments than the other subjects. Free healthcare did not only affect the patients’ visitation amount, however. Those with free healthcare showed better vision and better blood pressure than those without. These results show that free health care offers the chance for people to become healthier, and give more of a concern for their own wellbeing. Around the world, people would rather not go to a health professional for their maladies as in an effort to save money. Without this monetary stigma around making yourself feel better, fewer people would fall ill and die. Former US President Barack Obama says, “In the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one should go broke just because they get sick”.

The right to life, the right to be able to survive in this world, the right to keep your own life, and do everything in your power to protect it is an undeniable human right. This ideal is represented in the Declaration of Human Rights, written by the United Nations (Roosevelt). What is a country to deny their own citizens a human right that has been given to them by an entity that supersedes themselves? In an article written by Atul Gawande, a surgeon and public-health researcher, and part of the New York Times, paying for your own life can effectively ruin you financially. Gawande talks about a 47-year-old woman Army veteran who had many medical ailments. After numerous tests, she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. With that diagnoses, opioids were prescribed to her in order to ease the pain. The woman abused the pain-killers and was soon sent to another hospital to consult for a liver transplant for her newly-damaged organ. Doctors were able to help the lady and she soon became better. However, her healing only occurred physically. Financially, the woman and her family were in despair. The costs of her medical bills reached up to $15,000 annually, and after the husband of the woman also fell ill and was not able to procure an income, the family had to declare bankruptcy. In the beginning, they were an average middle-class family. But, after she got sick, and her family was ridden left and right with bills, expenses for the one thing out of their hands, they were bankrupt. The notion that you can go from average to poor in such a short time, with no influence from yourself is horrifying. People in the financial position of not being able to pay their housing bills should not have to worry about what might happen if they get sick. Sickness is not only a detriment that happens to the wealthy. Anyone can fall ill, and for some people, this means more than others.

The one unifying argument against free health care is that it is impossible for everyone to get health care for no cost at all. In the world today, and how medicine seems to be progressing, this argument has little to no traction. 32 of the developed countries of the world offer universal healthcare, with the exception of the United States. However, even some third-world countries offer universal health care. Sierra-Leone, a decidedly poverty-ridden country was able to implement health care. Sierra Leone was able to make it so even though they had many problems within their society, their citizens should never have to suffer. Sierra Leone was able to create this free healthcare system even after a horrendous civil war. This shows that no matter the country, no matter the situation, the plight of good for the citizens should always trump monetary stigma. In Sierra Leone today, unlike other African countries, the people are able to go to the doctor for the smallest concern. This idea has not reached the United States yet, as even bringing a child to this world costs the parents money. With the health care system of Sierra Leone, even countries that are in no means wealthy will be able to reduce a limit on their citizens (Donnelly). In example of the United States, a country that is leading in the world’s gross domestic product, and technological innovation, should also be able to give their citizens an undeniable human right (United). “Healthcare as a human right, it means that every child, no matter where you are born, should have access to a college or trade-school education if they so choose it, and I think no person should be homeless if we can have public structures and public policy to allow for people to have homes and food and lead a dignified life in the United States”- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York State Rep.