Intelligence Squared Debates: 'Is Health Care a Right?'

Source:Intelligence Squared Debates- Dr. Adam Gaffney acknowledging that health care is not a right in America.

"Sally Pipes and Dr. Adam Gaffney weigh in on whether health care is a right. An excerpt from the debate "Replace Private Insurance With Medicare for All." 

FOR THE MOTION:

Dr. Adam Gaffney - President, Physicians for a National Health Program

Joseph Sanberg - Co-Founder, Aspiration & Chair, CalEITC4Me

AGAINST THE MOTION:

Nick Gillespie - Editor-at-Large, Reason

Sally Pipes - CEO & President, Pacific Research Institute" 

From Intelligence Squared Debates

When you say that someone should be a right, you are also saying (perhaps unintentionally that it's not a right. There is no statue of law in the United States that says that Americans are entitled to health care in America, other than health care that we receive at the emergency room. And nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say that Americans are entitled to "free health care" or health care in general. I guess we could debate whether or not health care should be a right in America. But the fact is that it isn't and is treated just like every other service that we receive in the private market.