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Sunday, March 13, 2011
Health Care Should Be a Universal Human Right
By Dr. Robert Greenberg
Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus, UNM School of Medicine
On the March 4 Journal Op-Ed page, two physicians protested that health care is a commodity, not a right! This refusal to accept the principle that health care is a human right flies in the face of public opinion, physicians' attitudes and the developed world.
Further, the U.S. pattern of health care, in considering health care to be a commodity, has failed to lead the people of our country towards good health, when compared to other nations.
Only a small fraction of U.S. physicians support leaving the health care financing system as it is. Nine in 10 physicians agree that every American should receive needed medical care regardless of ability to pay.
The American College of Physicians, in December 2007, endorsed a system of universal national health insurance to achieve universal health care. The American Academy of Family Physicians advocates a national health system with basic benefits to all individuals. The American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed the concept that "quality health insurance should be a right, regardless of income, for every child, pregnant woman, their families, and ultimately all individuals." The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology calls on Congress and the states to "cover all people in the U.S."
In July 2006, the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons joined other physician organizations in endorsing the "Principles for Reform of the U.S. Health Care System" which states "health care coverage for all is needed to facilitate access to quality health care, which will in turn improve the individual and collective health of society."
Clearly, the majority of U.S.physicians are calling for change, emphasizing the necessity for universal health care.
The people similarly recognize the mandate for change, transforming health care as a commodity to health care as a human right. Poll after poll, during recent years, has indicated public awareness of the limitations of our health care system and support for a plan that provides universal access to health care.
The U.S. remains as the only country in the developed world that continues to consider health care to be a commodity. All other nations have implemented a system of health care, often integrating public and private approaches, that mandates that every citizen is supported by a system that provides universal health care.
The U.S. health care system must confront serious questions: Why do we spend so much more on health care, per capita, than other developed countries? Why are our outcomes worse on multiple important measures? Why do we spend up to twice as much per person as countries that provide universal coverage while leaving as many as 50 million Americans without insurance? Why are there such inequities among minority groups in access to health care?
Health care as a human right occupies a firm position in international treaties. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, both passed by the United Nations, recognize the human right to health care....
To consider health care as a commodity is to refute the opinions of the populace and those who provide health care, to deny the deficits in our current system, to dispute the world's progress towards improved and universal health care, and to dismiss the principles underlying the human right to health care.
Change of our health care system is beginning. We must all support our finding the best path to universal health care.
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