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If I really think about it, compared to when I lived in another country, it is out of charity that my parents paid for my hearing aids when I was in elementary school. It is out of charity that I was allowed to live life like a normal person and not a deaf beggar on the street.
The services of a doctor, medical equipment and medicine aren't free, and if no one wishes to give to charity to keep your body alive, then one must take the responsibility and pay for the privilege to live. Not everyone is given the luxury to a healthy body and a life to have the money to fix said healthy body. Chances are the people giving charity have an equal chance of getting expensive diseases, and it's okay if they don't give to charity, because chances are they could need it too.
If I ever acquired a large medical debt, I'd feel obligated to pay for it, because it is me who should pay for the privilege of living my own life.
Even now, I will have to save up for hearing aids, because I don't have the luxury of being a healthy human. I feel very grateful to be living in the modern era, because had I been born at another time, I'd probably be a deaf beggar. For that reason,I feel obligated to make more of my life than another person.
...Being healthy is a luxury.
I consider healthcare a basic human right and a matter of social justice.
Healthcare in the richest Nation on earth shouldn't be a luxury.
I consider healthcare a basic human right and a matter of social justice.
Healthcare in the richest Nation on earth shouldn't be a luxury.
I used to think about what human rights meant...until I came to the conclusion that living as a member of such species where human rights themselves is itself a luxury. Compared to other creatures, I am very fortunate to be a human where most people think it's wrong to murder. I know I have a sense of right and wrong, but even that can vaporize in some people under certain conditions.
This will be the last time I look at this thread. As of right now we are at 100% of people voting who see it as a necessity.
I want to keep some faith in humanity and I am going to pretend that there isn't 1 person who would see it as luxury.
I think you find that issue is not "do people think it's a necessity", but "should they be in charge of their own, or should government make their decisions for them".
Access to health care is a necessity for people to stay healthy or improve bad health. But as it stands, it is also a luxury...or restated, a "commodity"...because that is the way it's treated in this country, Obamacare's good intentions notwithstanding.
Perhaps a better comparison would be "privilege" to "right". In that case, I agree with:
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsjustmeagain
I consider healthcare a basic human right and a matter of social justice.
Healthcare in the richest Nation on earth shouldn't be a luxury.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA
It's on par with access to safe food, clean water and emergency services, as far as I'm concerned.
I think you find that issue is not "do people think it's a necessity", but "should they be in charge of their own, or should government make their decisions for them".
They should do their own heart transplants and appendectomies. I believe there are some nifty how-to directions.
Last edited by weltschmerz; 10-18-2013 at 05:40 PM..
Forget about privilege or a right, lets just look at economic reality. If somebody doesn't have ealth insurance, they go to the emergency room. Guess who pays in the form of higher premiums, we all do. Some states, if not all of them, have a state run hospital thats financed, by guess who, the tax payer.
Here is something else to consider, lets say for example too many blacks don't have health insurance, and they develop alot of medical issues, that sets off an alarm to insurance companies. They may feel that blacks are inherently prone to health issues, so somebody like myself who is black, and can afford health insurance, will have to pay higher premiums because I am an african american, and too many in my race don't have health insurance, and develop too many medical conditions.
This is a reality. Think about car insurance, in some states, men under 25 pay higher premiums even if they don't have history of accidents, simply because to car insurance companies, data has shown that men under 25 are simply have a higher risk of getting into car accidents.
If we make health insurance a right, it will allow us to spread the cost around more evenly.
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