elephant in the room

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care...."

If something is a right, it doesn't have an asterix with fine print at the bottom of the page; it doesn't have prerequisites. Health care is a human right, and because of that, coverage cannot be tied to employment. We don't say, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- only if you work." Similarly we can't say, "Health care only if you work." Consider that the US currently operates under an employer-sponsored health care system, and this line of reasoning calls into question our entire system. That's a big one to change, but it needs to, it's getting out of hand.

Ironically, 50% of the uninsured in our country ARE employed, an indication that our current system isn't even doing what it's designed to do. Employers don't HAVE to provide health insurance to you, and many don't or make the premiums so high it's not really affordable. If we're relying on this system to attend to our health care needs... well, it's akin to giving corporations tax breaks and expecting the money to eventually "trickle-down" into donations to the local community. Requires more than naivety to believe.

In California a couple years back, a bill was signed into law that required employers to provide health care for their workers or pay into a fund to cover the uninsured. I like the concept - if we were going to stick with an employer-sponsored system. But the system is inherently unjust (among other more tangible problems), so it makes more sense to change the system. What about a single payer national health insurance system? Click here for more information.

The enormity of this problem is like that of education reform (also a universal human right!).