There are still many improvements to be made to America’s health care system, but it has improved tremendously since 2010 thanks to the Affordable Care Act. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of uninsured people living in America has significantly dropped from 15.4% in 2008 to 10.4% in 2014. As this data and the Oregon health lottery case demonstrate, health care in the United States was either inaccessible or too expensive for many Americans and still is. This paper will argue that having access to affordable health care is a right and that it was unjust for the state government of Oregon to allow so many of its residents to go without health care.
The case study provides Dusty Sargent as one example …show more content…
Maintaining the health of one’s residents is one of the most important jobs of a government. In some state, it is too expensive to provide health care for so many people in need, yet in contrast I would argue that it is worth the cost and an investment. It is unjust for the Oregon government to choose to cut back on providing health care to its residents rather than cut back on other less vital aspects of its budget or find a way to raise more money to pay for it. In addition to being just, providing residents with affordable health care is an investment in its employees as well as its businesses. It is common knowledge that having healthy and happy employees increases worker productivity and reduces costs, such as paid/unpaid sick leaves. Accordingly, the Oregon government should do everything it can to provide as many of its uninsured residents as possible with health …show more content…
Not providing health care to as many of its uninsured residents as possible is unjust of Oregon; therefore, the state needs to ensure that it provides health care to as many people as possible. However, if it is not possible for Oregon to insure all of those in need, choosing who gets insured through a lottery system is the best possible way to decide. It should be noted that Oregon’s inability to provide health care to all its uninsured residents is just one example of a systemic problem in the United States. Although the Affordable Care Act is making extensive improvements in bringing healthcare to America’s residents, there is still a long way the country has left to go in ensuring universal health care for its