The Views of Selected Tennesseans on Universal Health Care as a Right

Abstract

In most G7 countries health care is considered a right, and some form of universal health care is provided. There is one exception: the United States, where there is no universal coverage. Individual citizens may have insurance coverages with drastically varying levels of protection, from government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, and from a plethora of supplemental benefits. For some individuals, there is no coverage at all. Medicare, which was designed to help individuals 64 years of age or older, covers only 80% of the cost of health care. I investigate the attitudes of selected informants as to whether health care is or should be a right. Five individuals were interviewed. All the participants had some form of insurance, even one who was homeless. All but one felt that universal health care was desirable for everyone. The one participant who felt otherwise stated that universal health care should only be instituted as a right if it were an addition to the U.S. Constitution. Universal access to adequate health care in the United States does not appear to be an immediate possibility. Powerful lobbies embedded in the medical and insurance industries have influenced legislators to the point that the only hope for universal health care is the result of a deep financial or political crisis.