With all of the yapping, software problems and faux facts echoing in our collective political minds, let's get back to basics. To do that, let's imagine we're back in high school civics and government class, and the assignment on the chalkboard is: "Access to basic health care – right or privilege?"
I think we can all agree that health is a key part of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," yet millions remain uninsured due to the design of our system. The Affordable Care Act intends to mend some of the issues associated with obtaining health care, if applicants can ever get past the second sign-on screen.
I recently asked some of the smarter people I know the basic question about rights vs. privilege, and was somewhat surprised at the simplicity of their answers. They all said the same basic thing – that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 that requires hospitals to provide emergency room care to anyone is already providing basic medical care to all people in the U.S., citizens or not.
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Another friend who is the CFO of a major hospital responded that more than 6 percent of their cash flow is bad debt from "uncompensated care." He attributes most of that to uninsureds in the ER.
Think tanks have high-maintenance PhDs that debate these issues all day. Instead, I have the "Greek Chorus" of our time, Facebook. A few days back, I posted this very question to my sages of Facebook, my high school friends Lewis Ashman (mostly liberal) and Dave Odell (definitely not).
Karl: Access to health care – a right or a privilege? Please discuss.
Lewis: "Sorry, Karl. You see, Dave and I never discuss the nitty-gritty of real issues. We just argue in broad strokes of meaningless generalities."
Dave: "I realize this is a topic that takes on different textures depending on the viewing angle. If you just parrot a 'knee jerk' answer on what would Nancy Pelosi or Ted Cruz say, you would not have an answer based on critical thinking; it would be just an opinion based on their outside agenda or source of power."
Dave continued: "For example, the overweight guy that drinks heavily and eats nothing but junk and doesn't lift a finger to do anything for his health. He spends half his life in the ER with chest pain, and he's diabetic only because of his lifestyle and weight. Even Lewis would say, "You are living off the system and abusing the privilege of access to healthcare."
Dave finished with: "Imagine a scene with a poor, sick child on a dirt playground looking into the camera, then Lewis would stand up and scream, "It's not fair! Healthcare is a right!" So, should we add health care to the list of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness? Too hard for me to say."
Lewis: "Lewis wouldn't say either of those things."
Dave then wrote: "Well, rights are born rights. You are born, you have life. It can only be given by your divine creator. Man (and government) can leave you alone, meddle with it, or take it away. Liberty is also a condition you come into the world with. Man (and government) can take it from you. The pursuit of happiness? Same thing. Health is part of life, both good health and poor health. A mission of our species is to care for each other when we can't care for ourselves. But that's not what is on the table for debate. What is being called "health care" is really a tax that will be mandated by government, forcing us to do what God already expects us to do."
Lewis: "I'm still waiting for sex, good sex, to become a right."
Dave: "What guy wouldn't vote his liberty away for good sex?"
What have I learned from this? That our nation has not spent enough time at the upper levels of this discussion, debating the fundamental question of right or privilege. And that most discussions with men end up at the same fundamentals.
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