Access to Healthcare as a Fundamental Right or Privilege?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33192/Smj.2021.92Keywords:
healthcare, human rights, healthcare rights, universal healthcareAbstract
Right to health is a government obligation to provide its citizens with necessary medical services regardless of their ability to pay. The right to health requires the state to develop policies and action plans to achieve accessible health care. Ensuring access to healthcare services is an important social responsibility; because of its socio-economic nature, demand for it often carries not only individual but also social aspects that need to be considered and requires the consolidation of consumer funds. Peculiarities of the medical market such as health risk and uncertainty, incomplete information, limited competition, external effects, production of public goods, lead to special forms of economic relations in the medical market, which requires the development of appropriate regulatory mechanisms. In countries, where an individual’s financial contribution to health care does not depend on his or her health risk, there is a principle of universal health care, which covers the entire population. Human is a higher social capital for whom health care is considered a right and not a privilege not only for humanistic and moral reasons, but also for rational, utilitarian approaches, as universal access benefits both the individual and society as it increases labor productivity.
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Burnton S. Doctors, patients and the human rights act. Med Leg J 2011; 79(4):115-125. [Google Scholar]
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O’Rourke TW. Lost in the Health Care Reform Discussion: Health Care as a Right or Privilege, Am J Health Educ 2017; 48(3):138-141. [Google Scholar]
Swendiman KS. Health Care: Constitutional Rights and Legislative Powers. Congressional Research Service. July 9, 2012. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40846.pdf
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U.S. Health Care Coverage and Spending. Available from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF10830.pdf
Cohen RA and Terlizzi EP. Health insurance coverage: Early release of quarterly estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, April 2019–June 2020. National Center for Health Statistics. February 2021. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/releases.htm
Collins SR, Gunja, MZ, Aboulafia GZ. U.S. Health Insurance Coverage in 2020: A Looming Crisis in Affordability. Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2020. Available from: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/aug/looming-crisis-health-coverage-2020-biennial
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Ashish P. Thakrar, Alexandra D. Forrest, Mitchell G. Maltenfort, Christopher B. Forrest. Child Mortality In The US And 19 OECD Comparator Nations: A 50-Year Time-Trend Analysis. Health Affairs, 2018; 37 (1): 140 DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0767 [Google Scholar]
Avendano M, Kawachi I. Why do Americans have shorter life expectancy and worse health than do people in other high-income countries? Annu Rev Public Health. 2014;35:307-325. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182411 [Google Sholar]
Avendano M, Kok R, Glymour M, Berkman L, Kawachi I, et al. Do Americans Have Higher Mortality Than Europeans Because They Have Higher Excess Mortality at Lower Socioeconomic Levels?: A Comparison of Mortality by Education in the United States and 14 European countries. In: Crimmins E, Preston S, Cohen B, editors. International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages: Dimensions and Sources. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press; 2010. pp. 313–332. [Google Scholar]
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Asatiani M, Verulava T. Georgian Welfare State: Preliminary Study Based on Esping-Andersen’s Typology. Economics and Sociology, 2017; 10 (4): 21-28. DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2017/10-4/2. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
Aristotle. The Soul. Edited by: Smith JA. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing; 2005. [Google Scholar]
Talyor AE. Aristotle Toronto: Dover Publications 1955. [Link]
Hobbes Th. Leviathan. 2014. [Link]
Paine T. Rights of Man. In Rights of Man Mineola: Dover Publications 1999:7-64. [Link]
Arendt H. The Human Condition Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1958. [Link]
Reinhardt U. Hard choices in health care: a matter of ethics. In: Health Care: How to Improve It and Pay for It. Washington, DC: Center for National Policy 1985:19–31. [Google Scholar]
Rawls J. A Theory of Justice Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1999. [Google Scholar]
Kawachi I, Daniels N, Robinson DE. Health Disparities by Race and Class: Why Both Matter. Health Aff 2005;24(2):343–352. [Google Scholar]
Daniels N. Justice, Health, and Healthcare. Am J of Bioeth 2001;1(2):2–16. [Google Scholar]
Papadimos TJ. Healthcare access as a right, not a privilege: a construct of Western thought. Philos Ethics Humanit Med 2007; 2(2). [Google Scholar]
Published
01-10-2021
How to Cite
Verulava, T. . (2021). Access to Healthcare as a Fundamental Right or Privilege?. Siriraj Medical Journal, 73(10), 721–726. https://doi.org/10.33192/Smj.2021.92
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