SOC490 Week 2

This week, we continued on with our discussion of Universal Healthcare and if we thought it was a privilege or a right. I personally believe that it is a privilege but there are also many reasons why people would think it was a right.

In class, one of the reasons we discussed was dealing with children. If parents of a child did not have healthcare then their child wouldn't have healthcare either. Therefore, if anything were to happen to that child, it would cost the family a lot of money in order to care for the child properly. In this case, I do understand why healthcare should be a right because the child should not have to suffer the consequences of the parents not having healthcare.

This same reason can apply to those with diseases that they cannot control, such as genetic diseases or just one that you were born with. For example, if a person was born with cystic fibrosis, then they would need help to be well. In that case, having healthcare would be a necessity. On the other hand, if someone chooses to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day and develops lung cancer, then that's their own fault and they should not get healthcare. If they need help then they should have to pay for their treatment out of pocket.

There was also a discussion about the Cleveland Clinic. It rose the question of: why is it that the Cleveland Clinic is rated the best hospital in the US, yet not everyone in Cuyahoga County is healthy? At first when we were asked this, I had no idea. But then I thought about it some more and I realized that the County is just being stereotyped because it has this hospital. Harvard University is a great college, yet not everyone in that area is the next Einstein. Its the same idea to me. Just because the Cleveland Clinic is the best hospital, that doesn't mean people in Cutahoga County have to be the healthiest of people.