Health Care: A Moral & Ethical Dilemma

We in the United States decided many years ago that K-12 education is a basic value of our society and a right of all citizens.  Is health care so different from education?  In K-12 education why do we think that the open free market won’t work?  Isn’t it because the free market doesn’t work effectively to provide universal education?  Why is health care so different?

We must think of health care first as a moral and ethical question.  Should health care be available and affordable for all citizens in the USA?  If so, how do we most effectively and affordably provide it?  If not, then how should we as a society respond to those who can’t afford to pay for the care?  And what will we do as significantly larger and larger portions of our population are unable to afford health care or health care insurance?  (Keep in mind that health care currently cost over $8,100 per person per year and rising much faster than the consumer price index.)

Should we accept that nearly two-thirds of the bankruptcies in 2007 in the United States were due to a family’s inability to pay medical bills?  That’s up 50% since 2001; and up from only 8% of the bankruptcies filed in 1981 after serious medical problems, (Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study)

We must find the best in ourselves and in each other to accomplish this effort!  We must work effectively together to fix this problem.  We can’t fight against each other!

What do you think?  Please add your thoughts about the critical issues in health care reform.