Proper Health Care Before Money

Proper Health Care Before Money?

As I am reflecting on the present health care system of our country, the United States of America, I came down to one and only conclusion. The conclusion is that we are living in a free market economy. If it is the case, the purpose of every private health insurance or health care institution is to make money. When I say making money, I mean making money at all cost. Maybe, there is nothing wrong with that if freedom or too much leeway is given to those private institutions. Simply with the thinking of making money no matter what, I feel a burning pain in my chest. Why is it an alarming issue? Is there any issue to it? Or, am I making it more than what it is? Well, consider this! It was reported, at the beginning of 2004, nearly 50 million Americans were without health insurance, and the number kept growing higher together with increased number of unemployment.

Millions more have had only partial, inadequate health care coverage. More than eighteen thousand people die in America every year as a direct result of not having access to health care. Beyond that, it was reported that those million people who could afford to pay health insurance were paying more than $100,000 for the hospital stays for their elderly parents in their final days before they died. Four years later, the condition cannot be less alarming than before.

As a reminder to the article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that 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 and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. The idea behind the article 25 is excellent on the paper, not in practice to those it tends to affect financially.

It must be understood, in every civilized country, the rule of law has to be the turning point for its people. Further, civil instructions and moral values are to be the guided accordingly. Those qualities, I may say, are to be taught and reinforced at home, school, and in public enterprises. With normal practice, we will recognize our duty to other people who breathe and have similar needs as we do. In my humble opinion, I believe, it is unethical and immoral to refuse to give medical care to a sick individual on the basis that individual does not have health insurance, or even deny health insurance to an individual because that individual has a pre-medical condition.

I, sincerely, think no one chooses to be an advocate of illnesses. It is an unfortunate course of life, everyone has to face. To conclude, as un-American I may sound, medical care to every individual needs to be top priority, not money. As the old saying, money is a good servant but is an evil master. We need to value and invest in people more than material objects we can leave in a second. And, as a powerful industrial nation, we must strive to understand that the world exists because of our existence. I do not mean to say it in a trivial way. What I am saying is that without any basic understanding of where we are and what we need to do to foster a sense a well-being in our people, all across the board, we are set to continue with the same egocentric attitude that will remain in existence for centuries to come.

Ronet Jean, MS. PT., MHC

Medical Student, UHSA

School of Medicine to the World, Antigua.