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Is Healthcare a Right or Entitlement?

May 10, 2012 •General, Health Sciences • 6 Comments

By Kathy H. Wood, Ph.D., FHFMA

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act--most changes will take place by 2014.  Many people view healthcare as a right; others view it as an entitlement.  For me, it raises a number of considerations for healthcare administrators and students: Do we feel government should pay for our healthcare?  What about in the cases of chronic illnesses brought about by the patient making poor choices on diet, exercise, etc.? In the proposed healthcare reform, having insurance will be required.  Should employers be mandated to offer insurance as a benefit?  And what about children being covered by their parents until the age of 26 – can we anticipate the impact this will have on the insurance industry? 

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is better known as Obamacare by citizens and the ACA by healthcare providers.  There are several key features including:  patient rights and protections (i.e., assistance to find insurance coverage, appealing health plan decisions, preventive care, patient’s bill of rights, pre-existing conditions, your choice of physicians, ER);  insurance costs; elder care; employers; governmental funds expansion;  early retirees.  The US government has a site dedicated to explaining the details:  http://answers.healthcare.gov/

Why is this subject gathering so much attention from the media?  It appears that it has become a debate between the Republicans and the Democrats, when the impact is on all citizens regardless of political affiliation.  Here are some questions for you to ponder: 

  • Should the US government provide healthcare for its citizens like other countries?  Should all citizens (non-citizens), regardless of contribution via taxes, be eligible for the same level of care?
  • Are the expectations of our citizens with regards to healthcare too high?  For example, in some countries with socialized medicine, wait times for certain procedures may be months.  We are accustomed to very quick response times.
  • Does the elderly receive the same quality of care that the non-elderly receive?  For example, in some countries, only people under a certain age can have special surgeries or procedures.
  • Do we put too much emphasis on life in general and quality of life?

Discuss your thoughts with me on Twitter or leave a comment below.

Dr. Kathy Wood, Ph.D., FHFMA is the University Dean of Health Sciences at Colorado Technical University. Explore her background or connect with her on Twitter @CTUHealth. 

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Comments

Irvin Franklin •June 15, 2012 at 11:19 PM

I have paid a lot of attention to the health care mandate. I don't think it should be up to the government to provide or for the tax payers to pay for someone else health care. I know that i am retired from the military and was promised free health care for life but the government changed that and now i have to pay a little( i don't mind paying a little) but under this health care bill my healthcare will be considered a Cadillac policy and i will be billed for having it. I also don't think it is constitutional for the government to mandate that i buy anything. This will be a slippery slope. You may have read recently about the restrictions in New York. What will be next???

Juzzy •June 11, 2012 at 04:42 PM

Congratulations! I'm actually wiirtng a paper for my social problems class about the idea that our education system is failing. Teachers are the core of the education system. Programs like this are the keys to improving our education system. Best of luck!

Frank Burroughs •May 15, 2012 at 12:50 PM

Nice article and I agree there are lots of questions. More questions than solutions. From what I have seen, especially in Canada, taxes are double what we pay in the US. People don't realize the government doesn't have any money beyond what they collect from taxpayers. Taxing companies basically push business overseas, leading to higher unemployment. Look at all the countries that offer socialized medicine during this global economic crisis and they don't generally look too good. Ask Greece and Italy if their position is sustainable??? They still may not have seen the worst! We can learn a lot from history.

Frank Burroughs •May 15, 2012 at 12:50 PM

Nice article and I agree there are lots of questions. More questions than solutions. From what I have seen, especially in Canada, taxes are double what we pay in the US. People don't realize the government doesn't have any money beyond what they collect from taxpayers. Taxing companies basically push business overseas, leading to higher unemployment. Look at all the countries that offer socialized medicine during this global economic crisis and they don't generally look too good. Ask Greece and Italy if their position is sustainable??? They still may not have seen the worst! We can learn a lot from history.

Kristin •May 14, 2012 at 09:46 AM

I think you have a few things wrong here with your post. I am someone who has a pre-existing condition, not because of bad choices or anything I did. I find it very offensive when people make assumptions about preexisting conditions. I worked at a job which did not offer insurance when I got sick. And now I have a preexisting condition. The health care reform would allow me to get the treatment I need. In the meantime, I have thousands of dollars of bills that I cannot pay. So I pay what I can each month. You imply that older people will not get the care they need, which is not part of the bill. What do you mean by quality of life? As someone who cannot afford the 1200 a month treatment I need because of disease, my quality of life is not great. One of the founding principles of the constitution is the right to pursue happiness. I cannot pursue happiness when I am sick, which really isn't fair to me. I assume this post is meant for just a discussion, but I suggest that you read the entire bill before jumping to conclusions. Health insurance companies make way more money than they need to survive. They are a business, for profit. Health insurance is not for sick people. The industry needs to be reformed. OF my thousands of dollars of bills, one bill stick out in my mind. I had emergency surgery and there was a bill for sterilizing the room. The bill for cleaning the room was 5000.00. It does not cost 5000.00 to clean the room. Additionally, my doctor charged me 3000.00 for about an hour of surgery. So, it isn't a simple issue. I urge everyone to read the bill rather than reading what people want you to think what it is about.

Greg Smith •May 14, 2012 at 09:25 AM

I do not feel that the gov't should pay for our healthcare. I believe that the free trade agreements which ushered out our jobs to other companies and the hiring of temporary workers in companies have all but eliminated healthcare. We hear about individuals on medicare that should not be, we witness foreign countries getting billions of dollars in assistance from the United States. On an on it goes and that the working person whose tax dollars go to assist others has had enough of it as we are in a terrible recession and companies cannot afford health insurance. So something has to be done and we should assist our people first and then take care of others. Then I think the attitude would change once that happens.

What do you think?

 
 
 

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