The Alan Guttmacher Institute
March, 2002
“From adolescence on, most men need information and counseling about sexual and reproductive matters, and they need somewhere reliable to go for related education and health care.”
“Obstacles to care include the tendency of many men not to seek regular, routine checkups; the fact that health insurance often does not cover the services men need; and the high proportions of men–particularly poor men–who do not have health insurance.”
Comment: The impact of lacking adequate health insurance coverage is ever pervasive.
COMMONWEAL
February 22, 2002
“HEALTH CARE FOR ALL”
“A conservative case” By Donald W. Light
“Now that South Africa has legislated universal access to medical services, the United States remains the only industrialized or second-tier country in the world that fails to guarantee its citizens access to medical services. This is a curious omission for a country based on rights and liberty. It is equally strange from an economic and business point of view. For while foreign competitors get full medical benefits at one-third the cost, American employers are weighed down by ever-growing expense for health care.”
“Universal access to needed medical services is essential to achieve the four traditional conservative moral principles: the anti-free-riding principle, the principle of personal integrity, the principle of equal opportunity, and the principle of just sharing.”
“For too long, we have ignored or opposed efforts to simplify the American health-care system, at a cost of ill-spent billions. Today’s system not only fails hospitals, physicians, patients, and families, but is collapsing under the burden of its own complexity and inefficiency. It is possible to design a low-cost universal plan that maximizes choice. The time to do it is now.”
Comment: Most proponents of capitalism believe that human capital is one of our most important investments and a key to the success of capitalistic economies. Dr. Light states well the conservative case for universal access to needed medical services which can only enhance an individual’s opportunity and productivity. Everyone concerned about health care reform should read this article.