Access to health care is often discussed in purely economic terms, but those concerned with ethics should also consider cultural and familial barriers to receiving medical services. Clearly, it is time our nation addressed the ethics of access. Yet, the issue of access is so broad and fraught with political, legal, economic, technological, medical, and social difficulties that, to be useful, our inquiry requires focus. The stakes for cancer are particularly high, since access to prevention information, early detection, and optimal treatment are directly related to health and survival.
Many people assume cost is the only factor preventing access to cancer services.
The American ethos of self-reliant individualism, which can wrongly predispose us to interpret economic success as a sign of moral worthiness, permeates discourse about this issue. Many take as a given that everyone has the capability and the responsibility to attend to his or her own health-care needs. Perhaps that is why the literature on this subject often equates access with ability to pay for services. Ironically, poverty may mean improved access to some services and no access to others. Certainly the inability to afford comprehensive coverage is one barrier to access, but the issue cannot be defined solely by economics.