[E]veryone in the United States has the human right to health care. . . . This means that benefits and contributions should be shared fairly to create a system that works for everyone . . . [and] that the U.S. government has a responsibility to ensure that care comes first.
Amnesty International USA has launched a petition calling on Americans to declare that health care is a human right, not a commodity. The petition emerges from the work of a new Health Care is a Human Right Coalition, which includes Amnesty International USA, the National Social & Economic Rights Initiative (NESRI), the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), and The Opportunity Agenda.
The petition urges elected officials to deliver a U.S. health care system that fulfills the human right to health care and meets the core principles of universality, equity, and accountability. It states that “publicly financed and administered health care should be expanded as the strongest vehicle for making health care accessible and accountable to the people."
You can sign a short version of the petition online at the Amnesty International USA website, and view the full petition at NESRI’s website.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda’s blog.
I agree with AI USA.. but GOOD LUCK getting anywhere on this with our current congress; everything is a commodity to them, because everything is a commodity for corporations selling them– and the corporations more or less own congress now, sooooo, end of story.
It’s not a commodity, it’s a service. The question at hand is what is the most efficient means of delivering the most effective service to the maximum number of people. That is a question of utility, and while a single-payer system is the most obvious answer to the question, getting from here to there is another matter altogether – when you consider that those with skin in the current system stand to lose their entire livelihood it should come as no surprise that any move towards a single-payer system will be resisted with every fiber of their being and every resource at their command. It would be easier if this were a question of morality, but since we’re talking about alternative methods for financing health care there’s not much of a moral argument to be made.
My suggestion: eliminate the age requirements from Medicare and the income requirements from Medicaid and call it a day.
Simple.
Too simple…
Got it, but my point is exactly the same, regardless whether it’s a commodity or a service.
IF there is major money involved, as there is.. as you point out, then CONGRESS has their grubby mitts in the middle of it– on behalf of the corporations, not us.
that’s why reform failed under Clinton, and that’s why it will fail under Obama.
People really need to push the Congress hard on this. So many of them are in bed with companies and corporations that have everything to lose by providing us with the quality healthcare we need. What’s happened to the Congress is disgraceful. We’ve been sold-out in so many ways. We need to get a grip on our legislators, and we need to keep a grip on our legislators. Nothing less will do.