Does America Believe Everyone Deserves Health Insurance?

I’ve been trying to find a way to write about the Senate’s recently released version of the American Healthcare Act (aka Trumpcare — or is it McConnell Care at this point?). Major publications have done an admirable job breaking down what is in the bill and how it will impact citizens across the country, so rehashing those points doesn’t feel like a valuable exercise. As McConnell pushes for the Senate to vote on the bill before the July 4th break, I keep coming back to one question: does America, as a society, believe everyone deserves healthcare?

Believe it or not, both Conservatives and Liberals are opposed to the bill. On one side, you have a group that believes this bill doesn’t go far enough in cutting government funding for healthcare. On the other side, you have a group that believes the proposed cuts will cause immeasurable damage to our society as millions of poor, disabled, elderly, and people with pre-existing conditions are left without a viable option for health coverage.

While there are many components of this bill, all of which deserve to be analyzed and considered, one is of particular interest: the end of Medicaid as we know it.

Underneath the bluster of repealing Obamacare is the strategic decimation of a program that exists due to a philosophical belief that America as a whole should pool its resources and offer coverage to those who, for one reason or another, can’t afford health insurance on the private market.

Medicaid and Medicare were introduced in the late 60’s for a simple reason–certain groups of people weren’t able to afford private health insurance, and it was having an adverse impact on society. Putting aside how the programs have evolved, they’re predicated upon the ideology that we as a society should come together and offer care to people who can’t afford it on the fully capitalist private market.

The Senate’s healthcare bill puts this debate back on the table. Fundamentally, this bill is about ending the Federal Government’s role in providing health insurance for Americans.

Exclaiming that this bill will leave over 20 million uninsured doesn’t hit home with a group of people who philosophically don’t believe the Government should be responsible for providing health insurance. Trying to appeal to their humanity by pointing out that this new legislature will hurt women, children, the disabled, and the elderly doesn’t work when they adhere to an opposing ideology.

This leads to my question: does America believe everyone deserves health insurance?

If all goes as planned and the Senate votes this week, we will find out sooner than later. Until then, I’m left to ponder that if the bill does pass, and America moves to slowly but surely disband programs put in place to provide coverage for undesirable patients, how will the market respond?

Will the States be able to support their citizens without help from the Federal Government?

Is there a private alternative to Medicaid?

Can we, as a medical community, come together to find a way to affordably provide care for all Americans without Government support?

Or will the ideology of an entirely free market prevail — human life be damned?

As the debate rages on and we hear arguments from both sides, I hope we keep this central question in mind. This is about more than the proposed bill; it is about our philosophical belief as a society whether or not we should pool our resources to provide healthcare for all Americans.