Soc 490: Prompt # 2 “Explore the other side of the debate in relation to universal healthcare. Healthcare is a universal right in the United States. ”

Soc 490: Prompt # 2 “Explore the other side of the debate in relation to universal healthcare. Healthcare is a universal right in the United States. ”

                In my first blog, I argued that universal healthcare was not a right and that people were not entitled to have it given to them without some sort of effort on their part. This blog will be completely opposite as I strive to argue the other side of the debate. You can’t fully understand your own side of the argument until you fully understand the other side first. Helen Redmond is the author of one of the articles that is in favor of healthcare being a right. She states that “at the core of the idea that healthcare is a human right is freedom. The United restricts our freedom in relation to healthcare. Instead of freedom, there is fear.”

                That in favor of saying that universal healthcare is a right believe that everyone is entitled to healthcare no matter what the circumstances are. One major theme portrayed is in relation to the mentally ill. Millions of adults and children suffer from a variety of mental illnesses including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, etc. Insurers avoid covering these mentally disabled people because they are too much of a risk to insure because of the cost. What are these people supposed to do? Are they supposed to fight for themselves on the street? Most of them end up in jail, or something similar.

                Another major aspect of those in favor of universal healthcare is those that are addicted to substances. Some of which are their fault, others that are not. Redmond says that  “Those with addictions are discriminated against because healthcare providers refuse them due to long term treatment costs.”  There were 1.5 million people in Illinois that didn’t get treatment that couldn’t afford it. Some of those died because they overdosed waiting to get treatment. The same question still stands. Are those people supposed to fight for themselves on the streets since they cant afford care? Again, some of them end up in jail, and some even end up dead.

                The cost of healthcare and the overall debt that is accumulated for some people is something that universal healthcare will supposedly cure in the long run. According to Redmond and a study within the article, “the uninsured have an average credit card debt of $14,512 due to medical debt and those with insurance have $10,973.” Those who owe this money are not free. Redmond says that this trap is what leads people to have their freedom taken away. For some, this eventually leads to job lock where they are stuck at a job solely based on the healthcare benefits that are offered because they are scared of losing that benefit if they leave. Overall, these major reasons are what influences those to vie for a healthcare system that is universal. Fear should not be the basis of the healthcare system in the United States. It should be the freedom.