A Right to Good Healthcare
SOC 120: Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility

This is the United States of America, land of the free. Good health care is a right, not a privilege. Healthcare (including public health) is special because it protects normal functioning, which in turn protects the range of opportunities open to individuals (Daniels N. 2001 pg.2). Currently President Obama has been trying to change the way health care is approached in the United States. He is facing quite a bit of opposition in his ideas that the government should provide health care for all Americans. No matter what your stance is on President Obama's healthcare plan, we all realize that it is better to have health insurance than not. With prescription-drug costs being so out of control, many people have to choose between food and their prescriptions. Which is just not right, the fact is that health care is out of control. If healthcare was made more affordable it would actually end up costing taxpayers less in the long run because the expense of having to pay for uninsured patients medical expenses is so high. The cost of going to a doctor is so high that many don't even bother until it is often too late. Having experience a major health issue myself at the last minute, because I am not offered any type of healthcare insurance through my job. Many Americans just cannot afford the cost of health insurance.

In this paper I will address several issues on why healthcare is so important to Americans; such as the types of preventative care needed. Ways to prevent diseases, screenings and causes. The reasons many Americans just do not have any type of healthcare coverage. Preventative Care

The emphasis on preventative healthcare is all for good reasons. By maintaining normal functioning, healthcare protects an individual's fair share of the normal range of opportunities (or plans of life) reasonable people would choose in a given society (Daniel, N. 2001, pg.2). Many people without access to healthcare only go to the Doctors after they have been ill or injured. We all know that regular exercise, a good nutritious diet, not smoking, and drinking to excess is the best course to minimize health problems and reduce the amount of money spent on health care. Along with life style selections we make the environment in which we live and work are critical to good preventative health practices.

Prenatal Care is a preventative care practice. Women in developing countries are bleeding to death after giving birth, writhing in the convulsions of eclampsia, and collapsing from days of futile contractions, knowing that they have suffocated their babies to death (Maine, D &Yamin,A, 1999, pg.562). Getting good prenatal care is very important for the expectant mother and the unborn child. Many pregnant women in Georgia receive free prenatal care for their unborn child. This is great for the many women like myself that do not have healthcare insurance, and do not make enough money to actually pay out of pocket to have a baby. There are so many doctors’ appointments, scr...

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