Do We Really Want Broad Access to Health Care?

In the United States, about 45 million people do not have health insurance. Mongan and Lee argue that even though most Americans say they believe in access to health care for all, the public is not willing to pay for it. They urge health care providers to assume a leadership role and advocate for the tax increases necessary to provide health insurance to everyone. Now that the presidential election is over, the real work on the issue of access to health care should begin. The work will be difficult — and probably impossible to accomplish unless the health care profession helps the U.S. public to confront some unpleasant truths. One might have thought that an election that hinged on “moral values” would generate serious discussion of one of our most fundamental “values” issues — that is, whether we really believe that broader health insurance coverage should be a high priority. The candidates were asked to debate on the basis of their values on issues . . .