Human Rights: A Right to Health Care Could Save Lives Hundreds upon millions of people live their everyday lives without access to proper health care. The right to equal health care should be granted to all Americans because it can improve public health by diagnosing and treating otherwise unmet health needs. It can reduce the cost of care, making it easier for those with chronic health issues to receive needed treatments. The right to equal health care can aid in the improvement of economic productivity by decreasing a percentage of companies loses due to sick time, short term and long term disability payments. Even though a universal health care system can generate concern of raised taxes, can be thought to contribute to a shortage of doctors
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Doctors are restricted by insurance providers to what type of care they can provide to a patient. Insurance companies have the say on what test or medications are covered under their policy, which in return restricts the patient care. This places Doctors in a position of worrying more about practicing “defensive medicine”, as to avoid the potential for malpractice suits and spending time staying up-to-date on insurance provider regulations than on the actual required patient care. A universal care system would help to remove the restrictions set by insurance companies and would allow patients more prospects for broader care and better medications; including more attentive Doctors. Another possibility, is by increasing access to basic treatments and preventative health care. It would improve over all public health and reduce treatment cost. The cost of treatments and preventative health care rise due to the fact they can be extremely expensive and are not sought out by uninsured until their health problem become serious. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (2012) 58% of families did not seek medical care due to the cost of services. By decreasing the cost of care those who would normally wait until the last minute to seek care would do so when the problem first occurs, reducing the overall cost of care and encouraging …show more content…
A study provided by the University of Colorado and Pennsylvania (2012) showed that those with health insurance missed 4.7 fewer days of work then those without. There were fewer premature deaths and more productivity due to lesser illnesses among those with medical insurance. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, the United States loses $65-$130 billion dollars a year to covering cost of lost work (2003). Applying these savings to the cost of health care spending could help offset any deficit it creates. It could help provide access to a larger variety of health services such as medicines and specified treatments improving overall public health, especially in those who live below the poverty line. Allowing the access to proper health care could also help those who want to work but cannot due to certain illness and afflictions, the ability to do just that. By being able to correctly manage medical problems people may be more inclined to work. Therefore reducing tax money being used to pay disability and other government funded programs used by those who are unable to
Doctors are restricted by insurance providers to what type of care they can provide to a patient. Insurance companies have the say on what test or medications are covered under their policy, which in return restricts the patient care. This places Doctors in a position of worrying more about practicing “defensive medicine”, as to avoid the potential for malpractice suits and spending time staying up-to-date on insurance provider regulations than on the actual required patient care. A universal care system would help to remove the restrictions set by insurance companies and would allow patients more prospects for broader care and better medications; including more attentive Doctors. Another possibility, is by increasing access to basic treatments and preventative health care. It would improve over all public health and reduce treatment cost. The cost of treatments and preventative health care rise due to the fact they can be extremely expensive and are not sought out by uninsured until their health problem become serious. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (2012) 58% of families did not seek medical care due to the cost of services. By decreasing the cost of care those who would normally wait until the last minute to seek care would do so when the problem first occurs, reducing the overall cost of care and encouraging …show more content…
A study provided by the University of Colorado and Pennsylvania (2012) showed that those with health insurance missed 4.7 fewer days of work then those without. There were fewer premature deaths and more productivity due to lesser illnesses among those with medical insurance. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, the United States loses $65-$130 billion dollars a year to covering cost of lost work (2003). Applying these savings to the cost of health care spending could help offset any deficit it creates. It could help provide access to a larger variety of health services such as medicines and specified treatments improving overall public health, especially in those who live below the poverty line. Allowing the access to proper health care could also help those who want to work but cannot due to certain illness and afflictions, the ability to do just that. By being able to correctly manage medical problems people may be more inclined to work. Therefore reducing tax money being used to pay disability and other government funded programs used by those who are unable to