Health Care is a right

Nurses Activism

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I would do a poll on this, but I do not know how to - or maybe you need to be a premium member.

At any rate, I would like to hear some discussion on whether you feel health care is a right or not.

I personally do.

I think we all deserve a single standard of safe, effective, therapeutic healthcare delivered with compassion. Is that not our goal as nurses?

Convicted criminals in our prison system are entitled to, and receive, free health care. Is there any reason why the general public, who pays, not only for their incarceration, but also their health care, should not be entitled to the same? Just a thought. JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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I find it hard that somebody could call themselves a nurse and not support access to quality medical care. In this country 45,000 people die a year because of a lack of health insurance. Also in this country if you lack health insurance you have a 40% greater chance of dying. We have decided that as a society children should be provided with an education kindergarten through 12th grade. It is about time we do something about the uninsured.

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and you have a right to get that same healthcare by robbing your local liquor store using your 2nd amendment right and your first amendment right. And then at your trial you can express your fifth amendment right.

Convicted criminals in our prison system are entitled to, and receive, free health care. Is there any reason why the general public, who pays, not only for their incarceration, but also their health care, should not be entitled to the same? Just a thought. JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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Everyone does have access to quality health care unless you are a veteran or member of a recognized tribe and then you get crappy government run health care. Show me a legitimate study that says 45,000 people a year die due to lack of health insurance. NEWSFLASH ****Everyone with health insurance will eventually die. How much are you paying in taxes? How much additional each month are you giving to the federal government out of your own pocket to pay for someone elses health care? Do you knock on your neighbor's door and ask if they need money for health care? I can't believe someone can call themselves a nurse and not being more forthcoming with their own paychecks and providing for others. Only in America

I find it hard that somebody could call themselves a nurse and not support access to quality medical care. In this country 45,000 people die a year because of a lack of health insurance. Also in this country if you lack health insurance you have a 40% greater chance of dying. We have decided that as a society children should be provided with an education kindergarten through 12th grade. It is about time we do something about the uninsured.
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I find it hard that somebody could call themselves a nurse and not support access to quality medical care.

Stop twisting words. Every person on this board, every citizen in this country, and any right-minded inhabitant of the earth supports access to quality medical care. Of course, that doesn't necessarily entail mandated health care, paying for free health care for others, or any of the countless other drawbacks that have been mentioned a dozen times over in this thread alone.

Also in this country if you lack health insurance you have a 40% greater chance of dying.

I honestly don't have the slightest idea what this means. I mean, I have no doubt there was a point in there somewhere, but it's so vague as to be meaningless. In this country, you have a 100% chance of dying. So...Are you arguing that there's a 40% greater chance of them dying once a disease/condition is contracted? Or that their lifespans are 40% shorter?

We have decided that as a society children should be provided with an education kindergarten through 12th grade. It is about time we do something about the uninsured.

Interesting point. I'm pretty sure there are programs, not sure whether they're state or federal, that cover uninsured children. I don't know the specifics. But aside from that, while believe me...I'm 99.98% against federal mandates/involvement, but I'm willing to bend on the .02% on this topic. Parents absolutely should be providing health insurance for their children. If not, then -they- can be fined and possibly face having their children removed its a recurring problem. Perhaps that would offer some incentive to hold off on children until you can properly care for them.

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Wow, Silent Mind :yeah:

I was just going to reiterate your points but there is no need. You did it very well. Thank you.

steph

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Specializes in ER.

i find that the people on this discussion that claim not to understand the dire need for universal health care are incredibly lazy with their research. it requires all of us advocating some form of guaranteed health care to do the grunt work for them so that they can no longer claim the transparent excuse of not having, " the slightest idea". i can only hope that their nursing care is not as passive.

Here is one link that took me about 7 total seconds to find explaining the relationship of insurance and child mortality:

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/lacking-insurance-hospitalized-children-more-likely-to-die/

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i find that the people on this discussion that claim not to understand the dire need for universal health care are incredibly lazy with their research. it requires all of us advocating some form of guaranteed health care to do the grunt work for them so that they can no longer claim the transparent excuse of not having, " the slightest idea". i can only hope that their nursing care is not as passive.

Here is one link that took me about 7 total seconds to find explaining the relationship of insurance and child mortality:

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/lacking-insurance-hospitalized-children-more-likely-to-die/

I can only hope your critical thinking is a little more active in your capacities as a nurse then you've demonstrated your arguments here. So in order to debate my claim that being 40% more likely to die was too vague, I know...I know....I almost feel stupid for not being able to predict that meant

"If you take two kids from the same demographic background-the same race, same gender, same neighborhood income level and same number of co-morbidities or other illnesses-the kid without insurance is 60 percent more likely to die in the hospital than the kid in the bed right next to him or her who is insured," In addition, uninsured children were in the hospital, on average, for less than a day when they died, compared with a full day for insured children. Children without insurance incurred lower hospital charges-$8,058 on average, compared with $20,951 for insured children"

I mean, they were saying the exact same thing....But anyways, thank you for proving me wrong by posting a link to confirm the fact by posting hard statistical evidence that perhaps children should be required to have insurance after all. For your intelligently thought out research, I'm actually going to do a 180 here and admit that you've convinced me of the point. I no longer believe that children shouldn't be insured or have access to health care resources under any circumstances whatsoever. Thank you for enlightening me.

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Show me a legitimate study that says 45,000 people a year die due to lack of health insurance. NEWSFLASH ****Everyone with health insurance will eventually die
Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance, according to a new study published online today by theAmerican Journal of Public Health.
http://www.harvardscience.harvard.edu/medicine-health/articles/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-lack-health-coverage

NEWSFLASH****

How much are you paying in taxes?
Not much.

How much additional each month are you giving to the federal government out of your own pocket to pay for someone elses health care?
So why not tell them to go home when they come to the ER. They do not have health insurance and if you treat them it will only drive up costs. You said you were a nurse? I find that hard to believe. Have you ever thought about going into talk radio?

Do you knock on your neighbor's door and ask if they need money for health care? I can't believe someone can call themselves a nurse and not being more forthcoming with their own paychecks and providing for others. Only in America

Now that you have shown yourself to be a greedy ____.

It IS all about the benjamins apparently.

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Heres a possibility , you have a new grad in their first job , so income is relatively low , they have to prioiritize how they spend their income ; food and / or housing ( a definite need) versus healthcare premium ( a responsibility ,but because they are young and healthy , they do not feel it's a need ).

You may not think people are dying on the streets because they cannot afford healthcare , they are , they may be able to access emergent care , but not on going care . Or given the choice of how they allocate their small income they , view the risk of needing healthcare as low , only, unfortunately to have a problem which ends with them in the ER. From our perspective , their choices may be poor , but if we walked intheir shoes , maybe we would have made the same decisions .

Most of us were young once. I bet most of us faced these same issues. We worked two jobs. We didn't buy much bling. We ate mac and cheese. Some of us lived with our parents or took in boarders. What has changed since we were young?

Can you give me a specific of someone dying on an American street SOLELY because they couldn't get health care. Maybe they were dying on a cold December day without adequate housing or food. But I guess those aren't rights. When will they be rights?

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I think we all deserve a single standard of safe, effective, therapeutic healthcare delivered with compassion. Is that not our goal as nurses?

I believe we all deserve decent food and shelter. A home not a place to sleep at during the night to leave the next day. Wouldn't decent food and a home be preventative health care? Don't we need good nutrition to be healthy?

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Convicted criminals in our prison system are entitled to, and receive, free health care. Is there any reason why the general public, who pays, not only for their incarceration, but also their health care, should not be entitled to the same? Just a thought. JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

So we should all be criminals? That is a government run program that won't let people die. Do we really want another government program?

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