Soc 490 Health Journal 2

Last week I took a stance on why healthcare is a privilege for the vast majority of the United States. As I stated before, there are too many people who will take advantage of a system giving out universal healthcare. The best way to fully understand ones argument, they must also be able to debate for the opposing side. For this journal, I will be arguing for the idea of healthcare as a right.

The current healthcare issue has created a nightmare for the mentally ill in our country. Many victims of depression, anxiety and schizophrenia affect millions of Americans, but insurance companies avoid providing coverage to these illnesses due to their chronic nature. They could require years of treatment costing them too much money. Those with drug addictions experience similar road blocks. Like mental illnesses, addiction treatment can perpetuate for years. Insurance companies will often cut benefits to save some money. Redmond states, “Inpatient treatment used to be twenty-one days; now it has been cut in half to ten, and some plans provide even fewer days.” Cutting down on available care will leave millions who need it unable to afford it. More people with addictions and mental illnesses will be left without basic care.

Health care medication companies provide the framework for an enormous slice of the economy, generating 16% of America’s Gross Domestic Product. Half of the countries bankruptcies are caused by hefty medical charges. “The number of medical bankruptcies has increased by 2,200% since 1981,” states Redmond. This increase is heartbreaking! Bad things can happen to anyone, and sometimes this unforeseen, unfortunate trials can cost up to half a million dollars. Majority of the country cannot pay a bill that high.

If health care were to be treated as a right, its cost can be reduced to affordable rates. There are too many people who cannot afford the skyrocketing rates that insurance companies are starting to demand. Most companies will deny patients access to treatment for a disease or condition until it is too late. It is common that they won’t approve a procedure that will check for possible early warning signs for severe diseases until the symptoms progress to the point where it is too late to treat. A CAT scan to check for an issue you may or may not have is not worth it in the insurer’s eyes, but surgery for a problem that could’ve been prevented much earlier is ok. This mentality doesn’t make much sense to me. It would cost significantly more money to pay for surgical procedures than for a CAT scan that could’ve helped prevent the situation from escalating to an extreme.

Everything boils down to money. It is said to be the root of all evil, but it dictates the lives of every human being on the planet. The issues faced with health care are no different. If treatment costs too much or a procedure isn’t necessary in the eyes of the insurer, odds are the patient can’t do a thing about it. This is how millions go without the necessary action every day in America. If basic human health isn’t a right entitled to every living person, than I don’t know what is.