The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 2

The contention that certain goods are "basic human needs" carries a strong suggestion that access to those goods should be a matter of right, not of privilege. But the assertion of rights logically entails the assertion of obligations. Your right to vote, for example, entails the obligation of election officials to accept and count your ballot; your right to use your own umbrella implies an obligation on the part of others not to borrow it without your permission.
(a) The American Medical Association (AMA) officially proclaims that "health care is the right of everyone." What quantity and quality of health care do you suppose the AMA is talking about? Is a liver transplant, for example, the right of everyone with a diseased liver?
(b) If "health care is the right of everyone," who has the obligation to provide health care to everyone? Who currently accepts the obligation to provide people with health care? How are they persuaded to accept these obligations?
(c) Here are three news items relating to the cost of medical care: (i) Use of primary care services at a leading health maintenance organization fell 11 percent when the HMO imposed a $5 charge per office visit. (ii) During the Great Recession of recent years, disability claims increased, while the nation's unemployment rate remained poor. (iii) When Sweden's welfare system reduced sick-leave insurance benefits from 100 percent of pay to 75 percent for the first three sick days, and 90 percent for each day thereafter, the number of sickleave days fell nearly 20 percent. What does all this suggest about the "need" for health care?