Is there a natural right to healthcare?

• Authors: Sean Rife
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In recent years, policy debates in the United States have focused heavily on rising healthcare costs and what measures can be taken to ensure greater provision of healthcare to individuals of limited means. Much of the rhetoric on this subject has taken on an explicitly moral character, and one common sentiment is that healthcare is or should be viewed as a basic human right. However, the notion of a right to healthcare has not been well articulated, and critics have failed to distinguish between legal and moral rights. Additionally, there are numerous problems inherent to viewing healthcare as a basic human right-many of which are in direct conflict with distinctly American conceptualizations of rights. The present paper reviews the debate over “rights”-both legal and natural-to healthcare, and argues that problems associated with natural rights arguments render them severely compromised. Instead, market systems commonly accepted in American society may be better suited to reducing healthcare costs and increasing access to services in the United States.

Keywords

EN

healthcare reform; health insurance; healthcare costs; human rights; natural rights

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 613-622

Dates

published

2012-10-01

online

2012-09-29

Contributors

author

Sean Rife

• Kent State University

References

• [1] Brands, H.W. (2000). The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Doubleday.
• [2] Cannon, M.F. (2009). Yes, Mr. President: A Free Market Can Fix Health Care. (Policy Analysis No. 650). Retrieved from http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa650.pdf
• [3] Carey, D., Herring, B., Lenain, P. (2009). Healthcare Reform in the United States. (Working Paper No. 665). Retrieved from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/health-care-reform-in-theunited-states_5ksnw5ghd45c.pdf?contentType=/ns/WorkingPaper&itemId=/content/workingpaper/227104360465&containe rItemId=/content/workingpaperseries/18151973&accessItemIds=&mimeType=application/pdf
• [4] Conrad, P. (1992). Medicalization and Social Control. Annual Review of Sociology 18, 209–232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.18.080192.001233[Crossref]
• [5] Corwin, E.S. (1928–1929). The “Higher Law” Background of American Constitutional Law. Harvard Law Review 42, 149–185; 356–409. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1329859[Crossref]
• [6] Cross, F.B. (2001). The Error of Positive Rights. UCLA Law Review 48, 857–926.
• [7] Daniels, N. (1979). Rights to Health Care and Distributive Justice: Programmatic Worries. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 4(2), 174–191. [Crossref]
• [8] Daniels, N. (2008). Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• [9] Drewnowski, A. (2010). The Cost of US Foods as Related to Their Nutritive Value. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 92(5), 1181–1188. http://dx.doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2010.29300[Crossref][WoS]
• [10] Gratzer, D. (2006). The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care. New York: Encounter Books.
• [11] Herrick, D.M. (2008). Health Care Entrepreneurs: The Changing Nature of Providers. (Policy No. 318). Retrieved from http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/st318.pdf
• [12] Jackson, B. (2005). The Conceptual History of Social Justice. Political Studies Review 3, 356–373. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9299.2005.00028.x[Crossref]
• [13] Jost, T. (2003). Disentitlement? The Threats Facing Our Public Health Care Programs and a Rights-Based Response. New York: Oxford University Press.
• [14] Konvitz, M.R. (2001). Fundamental Rights. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.
• [15] Mechanic, D. (2006). The Truth about Health Care: Why Reform is Not Working in America. Rutgers, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.
• [16] Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books.
• [17] Obama, B.H. (2008, October 7). Debate: “Health Care Should be a Right” [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAR8K2KCiGc
• [18] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2011). Health at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/health_glance-2011-en [Crossref]
• [19] Parsons, T. (1951). The Social System. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
• [20] Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• [21] Ridley, M. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves. New York: HarperCollins.
• [22] Roosevelt, F.D. (1941, January 6). Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union. Retrieved from http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16092
• [23] Schumann, R.E. (2003). Compensation from World War II through the Great Society. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20030124ar04p1.htm
• [24] Sigerist, H.E. (1929). The Special Position of the Sick (transl. R. Connell). In M. I. Roemer and E. Henry (Eds.). Sigerist on the Sociology of Medicine, pp. 9–22. New York: MD Publications.
• [25] Starr, P. (1982). The Social Transformation of American Medicine. New York: Basic Books.
• [26] Verrilli, D.B. (2012, March 27). Transcript of Department of Health and Human Services et al. vs. Florida et al. Retrieved from http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/11-398-Tuesday.pdf.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13374-012-0049-5