In his powerful new book, “The Healing of America,” T.R. Reid asks, “Which inequalities will society tolerate? Is it acceptable that some people are left to die because they can’t see a doctor when they get sick? That question encompasses a more basic question: Is health care a human right?”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt had the answer when he offered his “Second Bill of Rights” as the nation was nearing the end of World War II in 1944. He looked ahead to a postwar world where Americans had the right to a decent job, home, education and “adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.”
President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are pursuing that long-sought goal as they muster support for legislation that would greatly improve an unfair, inadequate system that denies affordable health insurance to many, including most of those with preexisting medical conditions, calamitous illnesses or no access to group insurance.
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http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/time_for_our_second_bill_of_rights_20091201/?ln