In January, President Clinton lamely proposed to insure five of our ten million uninsured children. Then, Congress would not tax cigarettes to insure them all. And yet, we are a rich nation that spends far more on health care than any other nation. The consequences of not providing insured health care to all persons are increasingly clear. Access to preventive services and health maintenance is impeded.
Hospitalizations are longer, more costly, and more dangerous.
The lack of universal health insurance is the major and distinguishing moral failure of the United States health care system. This failure belongs to our nation and thus to the community of American bioethicists. They deserve our attention as well. As the only bioethics community in a developed world that works in a non-universal health care system, this issue should be a central concern. And yet, much of the American bioethics conversation politely avoids mentioning the fiscally homeless in our own health care system.