Conversation

What's with the "right" to healthcare thing lately? Are we going to enslave the world's doctors? I would be happy to help my neighbors buy healthcare, provided I can ensure they are doing their part taking care of themselves and we are getting a fair price. No slavery though plz.

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Pieter Peach

@DrPieterPeach

Nov 21, 2019

It’s people that have lived outside of the US and have seen the positive impact the ability to access healthcare when you can’t afford has on the fabric of society. We’re not slaves.

Jesse Powell

@jespow

Nov 21, 2019

Yet. Hopefully, healthcare does not become a universal human right and you're able to maintain your freedom. I don't think anyone disputes the positive impact affordable healthcare has on a society. The dispute is over how to go about providing healthcare to the whole world.

Pieter Peach

@DrPieterPeach

Nov 21, 2019

The framing of it as “right” is not entirely constructive. Diverts attention away from the actual idea that not one of us is immune from hardship & one of the attributes of a civil society (that we can choose to be in) is how the safety net catches any one of us when we fall.

Jesse Powell

@jespow

Replying to

@DrPieterPeach

Whether it is a universal human right is exactly the point of debate though. I'm all for distributing my risk, sharing in a group insurance policy with other people who are also taking care of themselves to the extent they can. If they smoke and ride motorcycles, maybe not.

4:41 AM · Nov 21, 2019Twitter Web App

Replying to

Agree with the sentiment. To compensate for this, smokers in Australia subsidise public healthcare through significant federal cigarette taxes. Motorcyclists through vehicle registration and government mandated 3rd party indemnity that pay for their hospitalisation.