To Have Universal Healthcare, We Have Stop Punishing The Poor For Being Poor

You know it, I know it, and it’s time we all admitted it

Today, millions of Americans seem convinced that healthcare should only be provided to those they consider to be worthy of such support — and those lucky few usually don’t include the long-term poor. They may say that they’re just being practical — that we can’t afford to pay healthcare costs for everyone — but the truth is that they don’t want to see the poor get coverage.

These beliefs have made it almost impossible to discuss the real issues affecting healthcare costs, quality and consumer access to appropriate care. It’s hard to get into a discussion of where healthcare dollars should be spent when critics are more worried about whether some horrible poor person is taking something away from them.

At least some percentage of U.S. citizens believes that it’s morally wrong to offer complete, comprehensive healthcare to all US citizens regardless of their ability to pay.

The reality is that at least some percentage of U.S. citizens believe that it’s morally wrong to offer complete, comprehensive healthcare to all US citizens regardless of their ability to pay. Regardless of how expensive healthcare gets, these skeptics still cling to the notion that only lazy, ignorant and irresponsible people can’t pay healthcare bills. If so, they argue, why should their taxes pay to spare them the consequences of their bad behavior?