Free Health Care

Is health care really a right, or is it just a privilege for those who can afford it? As of right now health care is just a privilege for those who can afford insurance, but what about those who can’t? In reality health care is a right that all Americans deserve but our government today refuses to give it to us. It is written clearly in the Declaration of Independence that we have the right to live:

We hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This excerpt from the Declaration of Independence states that all Americans, regardless if they are poor or not, has the right to live. It also articulates that not only is Life an unalienable right of ours but that it is our God given right. Furthermore, if we do not receive the right to live it would be impossible for us to achieve our other rights: Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

If our founding fathers believed that Americans have the right to live, then why doesn’t our government today believe the same thing? Our founding fathers believed that the right to live was given to us by our Creator, meaning that the right to life was given to us from a higher power than man. So how can the government, insurance companies, and hospitals have the power to choose who deserves proper health care and who deserves to live or die based on if they can afford the treatment or not? Health care should be made accessible to everyone because it is our God forsaken right, our unalienable right, because it is the right thing to do, and so we may pursue happiness and liberty.

Achieving happiness and Liberty for all would be much easier to do if we had free health care. Families would no longer have to sell their family heirlooms, houses, or other belongings to pay for medical bills. People would be able to live much happier and easier lives if they did not have to sacrifice things like this only because insurance companies and hospitals want to make a profit off of people’s disabilities, sickness, and misfortune. It is extremely morally wrong for people to make money off of other people who are already struggling to pay for all their bills and then on top of all of that have to pay for their family’s expensive medical payments or insurance. Something like this can tear American families’ lives apart, which is not what our founding fathers had in mind when they spoke of pursuing happiness.

Similar to happiness, liberty is impossible to achieve without having life and good health first. If people are not properly taken care of and in good health, then they will not have the capability to carry out their liberties. Furthermore, medical payments can also restrain families from pursuing their liberties. For example, a family could be so tied down with medical bills, that they would have to work several jobs or make their kids work, making it impossible for the family to have the freedom to spend quality time with one another. Families all across America are being held captive to health insurance and medical payments which is a violation of our unalienable right to liberty.

Another reason we should have free health care is because everywhere in America people are losing their jobs and houses in this bad economy. Giving free health care to everyone would take one more burden off of everyone shoulders, making it easier for people to get by in the unstable economy. Proper healthcare is something that everyone deserves weather poor or rich and no one should have the power to deny people what they need in order to live.

Now you might say that giving free health care to everyone would probably hurt the economy because hospitals won’t be making a profit. But we must look at how other countries go about having affordable health care for everyone. Similar to other countries, we could have a tax on health care. Then when you have an emergency and must go to the hospital you do not have to pay for anything regardless of the treatment they have to give you. But this tax has to be made affordable to the lower and middle classes and set higher for the upper class. Then you might ask: What about the people who cannot afford to pay for these taxes? Do they get free health care too? The answer is yes. They deserve the proper health care even if they cannot pay for it because of whatever reason. They are human beings too with families and children and no one should be able to have the power to say if they can live or die just because they do not pay for the health care tax.

One problem people hear about when they talk of other countries and their free health care programs is the long waits in order to be treated. But when was the last time you went into the emergency room with a minor injury and was treated right away? The truth is regardless if health care is free or not, you are probably going to have to sit in the waiting room and wait for your turn. But even if you do have to wait longer, who cares? It is free!

The truth is that free health care can be made possible in America because other countries have made it work as well. So what is our government waiting for? They should make health care accessible to everyone by any means necessary. Because we as Americans have to right to live long, happy, healthy lives with our families and friends and we should not be denied that right only because we can’t afford the treatment to do so. Health care is a right, not a privilege.