Pope Francis: health care is a universal right, not a consumer good [CWN]

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Speaking to 9,000 people associated with the medical missionary organization Doctors with Africa, Pope Francis said that "health is not a consumer good, but rather a universal right, …

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I agree with the Pope on this. Health care shouldn’t be considered a luxury item.
 
Health care is free where I live.
I am sharing this,but please do not translate it into your politics. I do not mean to and I honestly do not understand much about your system. So this is here.
It needs improving,of course,it is not perfect,obviously,but more than once in the middle of nowhere we have had those emergencies with ourselves and children and here no one can be turned away at the door of a hospital. And I like that. And even if I know it does take taxes,education and health are worth our sharing, for me…
Sure some need more resources,and equipment and there is a long way to go. I cannot help wondering how much was deviated and poorly used by our governments that could have been directed to health…
There are those little town hospitals where everything will be heartfeltly given,care and attention and knowledge. I know…being nurses and doctors is a vocation and they do not make a lot of money there but they love it. You can hear that. Most of them alternate public and private practice. So you would have the same doctors .
To tell the truth,most of us who work also have private medicine.
Hospitals in the city are crowded,so that would be another story and long to tell.
Now if I am to tell the truth,I know that wherever we go,there will be a small place,a town hospital,and that is something I would not change for anything . They have saved us from trouble in emergencies and I am really really grateful those nurses and doctors are there. And may God bless them much.
 
I agree in principal, and its a good idea morally, but practically speaking it doesn’t work. “free” healthcare is actually taxpayer funded and government controlled healthcare. That might work okay in some small populations but in a country of 300 Million people this would be impossible. Never mind the epic fail it would be in India or China, each of whom have over a billion people.
 
traillius said:
I agree in principal, and its a good idea morally, but practically speaking it doesn’t work. “free” healthcare is actually taxpayer funded and government controlled healthcare. That might work okay in some small populations but in a country of 300 Million people this would be impossible. Never mind the epic fail it would be in India or China, each of whom have over a billion people.
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While I understand your point, it is not a function of the size of the nation which makes healthcare workable or not.

It has a lot to do with the mentality of healthcare patients, providers and institutions.

In the US the attitude has LONG been, do ANYTHING no matter what the cost!!!

That’s a problem.

With “free” healthcare, there will HAVE TO BE gatekeepers deciding on who, what and when type decisions.

But getting back to Pope Francis; if healthcare is a right, it is a carefully balanced one. It is not just a blank check for every individual.
 
I would agree here, healthcare is a right and should be treated like anything else, like security, states and cities may have budget problems from time to time, even go into bankruptcy, but they ALL make darn sure they have police to patrol the streets 24/7, no matter what, they find a way to cover those costs. Healthcare should be on the same level imo.

I think the level of care you get comes down to whether you can afford it or not, or what type of insurance you have, there are many cases where EMTs are instructed to drop people off at lower level hospitals when they do a ‘wallet biopsy’ (determining if someone has health insurance or able to pay for good service). Nearly every city has a ‘great hospital’ and a less than great hospital.
 
Our understanding of healthcare is an issue…

If my car is broken and I need a starter I can buy one and install it. I do not need to pay a mechanic to write me a slip to be allowed to buy a starter… I can also legally have my neighbor install it for me.

Now, have an infection and need $20 of antibiotics? Not the same laws… o.O

Now lets assume for arguements sake like my neighbor who is a whiz with cars I have a non doctor neighbor who is smart enough to research and treat me… nope, we go to jail… yeah

So here I question our obsession with “healthcare” vs healthcare… one allows care, the other is a system.
 
LethalMouse said:
Our understanding of healthcare is an issue…

If my car is broken and I need a starter I can buy one and install it. I do not need to pay a mechanic to write me a slip to be allowed to buy a starter… I can also legally have my neighbor install it for me.

Now, have an infection and need $20 of antibiotics? Not the same laws… o.O

Now lets assume for arguements sake like my neighbor who is a whiz with cars I have a non doctor neighbor who is smart enough to research and treat me… nope, we go to jail… yeah

So here I question our obsession with “healthcare” vs healthcare… one allows care, the other is a system.
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Its only like it to benefit certain industries, like the medical community, pharma companies, in short, they do NOT want people to be able to access relief from their ailments without going thru them and paying money, and they have succeeded, they have the law on their side, so its basically illegal to DIY when it comes to what you put in your own body…ridiculous imo and needs to change.

It would basically be the same as telling you, you can no longer fix your car yourself, you MUST take it to a repair shop, and if you get caught buying the parts yourself, its illegal and you will go to jail, (even if you know what to do to to fix it), this kind of thing only benefits the companies and repair shops.

Boils down to Govt/ private industry collusion imo, industries lobby for certain laws that benefit them, and force people into paying money to specific places.

I do believe this will change in time though, eventually enough people will recognize whats going on and put a stop to it.
 
traillius said:
I agree in principal, and its a good idea morally, but practically speaking it doesn’t work. “free” healthcare is actually taxpayer funded and government controlled healthcare. That might work okay in some small populations but in a country of 300 Million people this would be impossible. Never mind the epic fail it would be in India or China, each of whom have over a billion people.
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Why don’t the individual states set up their own local health care systems then, funded by local taxes? Why would that work in small European states but not in an individual US state?
 
CWN_News said:
Speaking to 9,000 people associated with the medical missionary organization Doctors with Africa, Pope Francis said that "health is not a consumer good, but rather a universal right, …

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Access to affordable ‘basic’ care is a responsibility or objective of good government, not an individual ‘right’
Health care is not a human right
A human right is a moral right of paramount importance applicable to every human being. There are several reasons why health care should not be considered a human right.
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Firstly, health care is difficult to define. It clearly encompasses preventive care (for example, immunisation), public health measures, health promotion, and medical and surgical treatment of established illness. Is the so called human right to health care a right to basic provision of clean water and adequate food, or does everyone in the world have a right to organ transplantation, cosmetic surgery, infertility treatment, and the most expensive medicine? For something to count as a human right the minimum requirement should surely be that the right in question is capable of definition.
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Secondly, all rights possessed by an individual imply a duty on the part of others. Thus the right to a fair trial imposes a duty on the prosecuting authority to be fair. On whom does the duty to provide health care to all the world’s citizens fall? Is it a duty on individual doctors, or hospital authorities, or governments, or only rich governments? It is difficult to see how any provision of benefits can be termed a human right (as opposed to a legal entitlement) when to meet such a requirement would impose an intolerable burden on others.
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Thirdly, the philosophical basis of all human rights has always been shaky. Liberalism and humanism, the dominant philosophies of Western democracies, require human rights. Religion requires a God, but this is not in itself evidence of God’s existence. Most people can see some advantage in maintaining the concept of civil and political rights, but it is difficult to find any rational or utilitarian basis for viewing health care in the same way.
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To propose that health care be considered a human right is not only wrong headed, it is unhelpful. Mature debate on the rationing and sharing of limited resources can hardly take place when citizens start from the premise that health care is their right, like a fair trial or the right to vote. I suspect that the proponents of the notion think that to claim health care as a human right adds some kind of weight or authority to the idea that health care, and by extension healthcare professionals, is important. A more humble approach would achieve more in the long run.
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If health care is a right, then what else is a “right”? Free housing? Free school? Free transportation? Free food? Free entertainment? And the list goes on and on.

We have ruined what was arguably the best medical system in the world to supposedly give those 40 million people living here health care. Most of these people are illegals who shouldn’t get this “universal right”, or young people that have little need for health care.

Control a nations money and its health care and you control its people. Slavery…
 
twf said:
Why don’t the individual states set up their own local health care systems then, funded by local taxes? Why would that work in small European states but not in an individual US state?
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Since all healthcare is potentially operative across state lines, states cannot set up individual systems without federal oversight, or at least that is what is claimed under the interstate commerce laws. Also, costs are beyond the capacity of most states, at least if they want to be competitively affordable to live, work, and invest in.
 
This seems to be the doctrine of the Church. See, for example:

Pope St. John XXIII said:
11. Beginning our discussion of the rights of man, we see that every man has the right to life, to bodily integrity, and to the means which are suitable for the proper development of life; these are primarily food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and finally the necessary social services. Therefore a human being also has the right to security in cases of sickness, inability to work, widowhood, old age, unemployment, or in any other case in which he is deprived of the means of subsistence through no fault of his own.[8]
  1. Cf. Encycl. Divini Redemptoris of Pius XI, A.A.S. XXIX, 1937, p. 78; and Radio Message of Pius XII, Pentecost, June 1, 1941, A.A.S. XXXIII, 1941, pp. 195-205.
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Does healthcare imply fixing us when we are not healthy. If that is so, then it should be called sickcare.

Healthcare would do us more service if we concentrated on instructions on how to stay healthy. How do we minimize diabetes? How do we minimize drug addiction? How about alcoholism? How about a national campaign to familiarize ourselves with unhealthy life practices? If we spent as much time in listening to sermons on healthy practices as we do in church listening to preachers, we might not need as much “Healthcare”.
 
jimcav said:
If health care is a right, then what else is a “right”? Free housing? Free school? Free transportation? Free food? Free entertainment? And the list goes on and on.

We have ruined what was arguably the best medical system in the world to supposedly give those 40 million people living here health care. Most of these people are illegals who shouldn’t get this “universal right”, or young people that have little need for health care.

Control a nations money and its health care and you control its people. Slavery…
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Obamacare is not working, correct. But we have not had the “best medical system in the world,” we have one based on your ability to pay.
US Health System Ranks Last Among Eleven Countries on Measures of Access, Equity, Quality, Efficiency, and Healthy Lives

Many US citizens can’t afford their meds or to visit a doctor, or God forbid they should get sick and need hospital care.

.
 
In the united states at least, federal law mandates that anyone going to any hospital ER must be provided all necessary medical treatment regardless of ability to pay. So that solves the dilemma for US catholics.
 
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