A right is a principle that specifies something which an individual should be free to have or do. A right is an entitlement, something one possesses free and clear, something one can exercise without asking anyone else's permission. Since it is not a privilege or favor, we do not owe anyone else any gratitude for their recognition of our rights. But there is no such right [to medical care]. There cannot be --- not in a free society which recognizes the genuine rights of individuals to their own autonomy (Kelley D. 1993)
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A right to a basic and adequate standard of health care should be adopted as the fundamental premise of a reformed health care system for the United States. Currently the United States is the only western democracy that does not recognize a right to health care. Other industrialized nations like Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan have long provided a legal entitlement to health care.
In the United States today there is already a limited albeit insecure right to some health care for the majority of the population. There is also an absolute entitlement to some health care through government programs for particular categories of persons. The central dilemma of health care reform is how to restructure our nation's health care system to extend and ensure an entitlement for all our citizens to the most comprehensive health care that our society can afford. While there are compelling reasons to do so irrespective of the establishment of a human right to health care there is also formidable opposition to doing so.
In the United States today there is a legal right to limited health care services through public hospitals and programs. There is also a legal right to life-saving hospital care in emergencies for people........
