Rights

by digby

Today Harry Reid said:

“It is long past time call health care a right and not a privilege.”

Chris Dodd added:

“Tomorrow we will meet on Christmas Eve to finally pass right legislation that will make decent health care a right for every American citizen.”

If this bill has done that then it truly is a step forward. But it might be a good idea to make that explicit because I’m not sure that’s how it looks when people like Max Baucus describe the reform this way:

We have worked tirelessly to deliver more affordable health care. To deliver an insurance market that works for patients not profits. To deliver millions of dollars in tax credits to help families and small businesses purchase insurance. And to control health care costs to get American families, businesses and the economy back on track…

We can proud that every American in every state can benefit from new consumer protections and a more stable, secure health care system.

How that translates into a right for all Americans remains to be seen.

I certainly agree that everyone has a right to decent health care — it’s implicit in the Declaration of Independence. But if this reform another one of those rights that’s difficult to exercise then it will need quite a bit of tweaking before it can be declared to have delivered on such a promise.

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