The Right to Health Care and the Role of Government in Health Policy

Is the provision of health care a fundamental right in the United States? Does government have an obligation to provide health care for all citizens – or at least, to make sure the systems and financing are in place, in or out of government, for them to get it? Many countries include the right to health care in their constitutions. Indeed, the World Health Organization, in its Constitution, attests to a right to the “highest attainable standard” of health. But what does it mean to have a “right” to “health care?” In order to answer that question we need to define what we mean by “right” and what we mean by “health care,” and how they are related. [via]

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