Jennifer Rasmussen
121.151
Basic Argument: Final Draft
June 20, 2014
Health Care: Profit Motive
“Is the physician a healer of the sick or a maker of money?” In book 1 of Plato’s The Republic, Socrates questions about the physician being a healer, or a maker of money and trying to balance the two is much easier in our time than it was in Plato’s (www.literaturepage.com). The famous Hippocratic Oath affirms that doctors should protect the sick, and not only just from being sick, but also from injustice and harm, and instructs physicians not to prey on patient’s vulnerability for their own gain (medterms.com). Today, few medical schools require their students to take the oath, the principle of placing the benefit of the sick above one’s own self-interest remains at the center of the medical profession, so we think? Treating the sick and offering quality care to those who suffer are acts of compassion, which to this day are being destroyed by profit driven health care. We ask ourselves how could there be over 45 million people in the United States who do not have health care. Well, first let’s see how we can actually define Universal Health Care, which is also known as Universal Health Coverage, is a specific type of health care where everyone is provided coverage regardless of their income, race, age, pre-existing conditions, gender, or wealth. If you are a legal resident of the United States you are eligible for universal health care. When we think of the purpose of universal health care, it’s to provide all people with a right to obtain health care, without having to worry about any kind of financial worries. In the current situation the costs associated with privatized health care are really expensive. Private companies are able to set their own costs for insurance premiums and other tests in order to make a profit (you would think illegal). I have seen