Introduction
The right to healthcare is intersectional and crucial, as it ensures everyone has access to health services whenever and wherever they need them. High-quality healthcare in the United States is crucial because it enhances the quality of life and helps prevent diseases. The U.S. government does not provide healthcare benefits to its citizens; instead, individuals are responsible for paying for their own medical services. Healthcare should be a human right, not a constitutional one. This paper will explore the arguments against guaranteeing healthcare as a right in the U.S. and examine the ethical principles that inform this position.
Arguments Against the Right to Free Healthcare
A right is considered an entitlement that can be exercised without getting affirmation from anyone. When evaluating the right to healthcare, it becomes challenging to provide it without making payments. Paying for healthcare services ensures that high-quality services are received on time. Among the 37 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations, the U.S. is the only one that does not provide universal healthcare through its constitution or in practice. The U.S. provides employer-based insurance to 55.1% of the population (Britannica, 2022).
If healthcare in the U.S. were guaranteed, more lives would be saved, public health would improve, small businesses would thrive, and medical bankruptcies would be prevented. Although ensuring healthcare rights are guaranteed would be beneficial, it would also lead to various disadvantages. A right to healthcare could lead to socialism, a shortage of medical professionals, lower wages, higher taxes, and increased U.S. debt.
Although more lives could be saved by guaranteeing healthcare, a shortage of doctors, an increase in wait time for medical services, and rationing of medical services would still lead to loss of lives. It would not be considered to guarantee healthcare rights, as it would lead to more negative impacts than benefits.
Public health ethics are encompassed within principles that limit government organizations. The principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Biometrics ensure respect for human dignity and fundamental freedoms (Martin, 2021). The right to healthcare does not prioritize an individual’s interests and welfare; instead, the government controls the allocation of goods and services. The four main principles of ethics in the U.S. are justice, autonomy, nonmaleficence, and beneficence (Jahn, 2011).
Autonomy refers to an individual’s right to make informed decisions about their medical care. Government rationing on controlled distribution, price setting, budgeting, and service restrictions can limit an individual’s right to choose medical care. Nonmaleficence is a physician’s obligation not to inflict harm on a patient. A right to healthcare could lead to fewer available doctors and decreased wages, potentially resulting in substandard patient care. Beneficence refers to acts of kindness, charity, and mercy shown to a patient.
The right to free healthcare will lead to hospitals being overwhelmed with people; thus, doctors and nurses will not have the time to show compassion or mercy to individual patients. Justice reflects on equality, fairness, and access to healthcare services. Individuals who pay for their own medical services can transfer to other hospitals if they feel they can not access a certain service or have been mistreated. Ethical principles show that the right to healthcare should not be guaranteed.
Conclusion
The right to healthcare should not be guaranteed in the U.S., as it results in numerous limitations, including economic issues such as higher taxes, accumulated debt, and lower incomes, as well as healthcare service deficiencies, including a physician shortage, service rationing, and longer wait times. The system’s “socialist” nature is also noted as a restriction.
Although benefits are incurred in the right of healthcare, such as improved healthcare and the growth of small businesses, the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. Ethical principles such as nonmaleficence, justice, autonomy, and beneficence show that the right to healthcare should not be guaranteed. The demerits associated with the right to healthcare impact the general quality of health an individual receives.
References
Britannica, Inc. (n.d.). Pro and con: Right to health care. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.
Jahn, W. T. (2011). The 4 basic ethical principles that apply to forensic activities are respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 10(3), p. 225.
Martin, G. (2021). Public health ethics. Thinking about bioethics, human rights, justice, and moral responsibility [Video]. YouTube. Web.
