If Basic Health Care is not a human right why should?

Question

police protection, fire services, roads and transport services, a military, etc be paid for through taxes. Surely these are not basic human rights.

Why don't conservatives want people to pay private insurance for roads, police forces, fire services, the military, nuclear weapons, parks, schools, libraries, beaches, and every other dam thing that taxes are spent on?

What makes a police force more important than health? What makes roads more important than health?

Jon, I guess the concept of preventative health care would be lost on you!

Answer 1

It's a simple lack of thought. Any half-wit should be able to figure out that by not properly providing, at the very least affordable, health care to everyone, we allow those without health care to spread illnesses to those of us who do have health care. You are going to pay for health care for everyone one way or other. I prefer not to get sick so I'll go with the other. The shortsighted prefer to get sick while continuing to pretend they are some how magically protected from illness because they have insurance. Unable to reconcile the reality with their philosophy of not caring and selfishness.

Answer 2

Healthcare is paid for via National Insurance rather than income tax.

What is the difference between paying taxes on income for the things you mention and paying privately for them? If people paid for private services then surely they would be entitled to have a say in how and where that money is spent? Perhaps that's your point but I would rather have a fire service or police service that's on general call in an emergency than a service that's provided more readily where people can afford it most. Do less well off people not merit the same level of fire and police protection, access to libraries and parks, roads and beaches than better off people?

I don't think that any one public service is any more important than the next one. Perhaps how they are spent should be examined rather than on what they are spent.

Answer 3

Speaking as a Libertarian, none of those are basic human rights. A right is something you can do without any participation from others, that also doesn't interfere with others.

I could give you a really long answer, but I doubt you've the wit to comprehend the simple fact that making "health care" a right would not cause it to exist. If health care is a human right, where was that right 200 years ago when people died of diseases that can be cured with over-the-counter drugs today?

However, I'll just ask you this one question.

What good is your right to healthcare without roads to get to the healthcare? Or do you just have an absolute right to healthcare, and getting it to you is someone else's responsibility?

Do people in Montana have a lesser right to healthcare than people who live in Chicago?

Answer 4

If you added the word "reasonable" to the question, I would say, yes. Just like we have a basic human right to "reasonable" amounts of food and a roof over our heads. We expect no less for animals. However, the disconnect for many people is what is "reasonable?" Taking my comparison to the next level... If a homeless man came up to you and asked for a meal and shelter, you could certainly point him to the nearest homeless shelter and even buy him a Big Mac. But there should be no expectation that you should take him home and feed him a steak dinner. With that in mind, Americans TODAY have reasonable access to health care, just as they have reasonable access to food and shelter TODAY. Unfortunately, too many people are expecting a steak dinner... instead of the Big Mac.

Answer 5

You are comparing apples and oranges. The argument for nationalized health care is more closely related to governmetn control of our lives than actual health care. The health care industry comprises about 1/7 of the US economy. Is government control of that much of the economy a good idea? Never worked in the past, why now? It is another misinformation campaign designed to give more control to the government and take away money from the people.
Truth is, health insurance IS affordable. I see ads for it all the time. How about this....even if you have insurance, make a few calls today and find out how much it might cost to have your family insured. If you already have insurance through your employer, count up that cost too. I bet you'll find it's not that expensive.

Answer 6

Nationalized Heath Care is no panacea.

All health care is rationed. Either by the state or the Market.

The real problem with health care is rising costs. What people don't understand is why. 50% of you lifetime healthcare dollars are spent in the last 6 months of your life. Want to make health care affordable you need to stop heroic measures.

This won't happen. Nobody is going to win an election on the platform of no chemo for grandma and no bypass for grandpa.

Answer 7

Americans have BASIC health care right now. You can go to an emergency room everywhere in the country and be seen...whether you can pay or not. They cannot turn you away.

And you will get the bill and if you don't pay the bill they will sue you and if you don't have any money they will take your car or house or anything worth anything they can take.

Now do you dumb dumbs get it, they have to help you but its not free. More families have filed for bankruptcy than ever before because of medical bills and most are insured.

Answer 8

Americans have BASIC health care right now. You can go to an emergency room everywhere in the country and be seen...whether you can pay or not. They cannot turn you away.

To use your example of police...you have a basic right to be protected. You have that. BUT if you want 24 hour protection just for you, you have to hire a body guard.

To use your example of roads...you have a basic right to drive through this country, but only on roads provided for everybody else. IF you want a private road on your property, you have to pay for it.

You can apply that principle to all the rest of your examples, as well.

David R...You are talking out of your butt, my friend.

Answer 9

We do have basic health care. You can go to any emergency room and they have to take you by law. If not then you can sue for medical malpractice.

What you want is free health care as a human right. There will be no such thing as "free" health care. If the government took it over, like they do in France, you will have to pay an additional 20% of your income in taxes to pay for it. If you make $25,000 a year you would owe $5000 for health care tax, you can buy it on your own for that much. If you made $40,000 you owe $8000 a year, you can get it cheeper than that.

Answer 10

last year when you didn't get shot thank a cop
Last month when shoddy construction didn't throw your car off a bridge thank the Department of Transportation
Last week when you weren't killed in a bombing, thank a soldier.

All those things you mentioned are preventative measures so you are less likely to need a hospital.

Canada only pays for 69.9% of Canadian health costs of it's so called free health care, while currently America already pays for 44.6%.

But I'm sure you just want me to pay for your health care while you're on welfare smoking a dooby. I work hard for my money, I want to pay for MY retirement, not social security for deadbeats, I want to work for MY health care not pay for yours, I want to achieve MY American dream, not have it handed out by taxpayers while I slack off.

EDIT:
Preventative Health care/individual welfare/social security: 1: (noun) Services I alone use, so I alone pay for out of my pocket. 2: (noun) Services others alone use and could pay themselves.

Roads, police, schools, and military: 1: (nouns) Community services that are used by the community. 2: Services that cannot be paid for individually and don't (in most cases) lead to government dependency, government bureaucracy, and government control. The government already pokes it's nose in where it doesn't belong and I don't want them controlling my health or the health of my loved ones.