The Right to Health Care
To the Editor:
Thank you, Ted Pease, for your reminder of the lack of recognition in the U.S. for health care as a human right [“Health Care a Human Right,” September Senior News, page 10]. This is an issue worthy of debate, but even those who deny such a “right” exists surely must agree that providing for the health of a population as a common good will determine the vigor, productivity and longevity of any group.
No matter what we call it, medical care is essential to life, not only for individuals but for community survival. A recent Yale University study concludes that adopting a universal, single-payer healthcare system would save 114,000 lives and $1T (yes, trillion) per year. These figures were recently examined and corroborated by the conservative libertarian thinktank, the Cato Institute, as reported by Corbin Trent in the Substack, “A Fight Worth Having.”
Do we have a “right” to health? As every human being knows from personal experience, without it, there is very little life — which is a Constitutional guarantee! So it’s time to stop quibbling and follow the proven lead of every other industrialized democracy that supports the life of its inhabitants by providing for their health and survival.
Patty Harvey, Willow Creek
