Recently crowned Miss USA, Kara McCullough, created a firestorm with one simple comment. When asked if health care was a right or a privilege, McCullough gave the free-market response: “I'm definitely going to say it's a privilege.”
McCullough wasn’t done. She linked health insurance to employment. “As a government employee, I am granted health care, and I see firsthand that for one to have health care, you need to have a job. Therefore, we need to continue to cultivate this environment that we're given the opportunities to have health care as well as jobs to all the American citizens worldwide,” she explained.
Critics lambasted McCullough for her remarks. She has already backed down from that position, shrinking from the attacks. But her comments bring up an essential question. With recent passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the House of Representatives on May 5, there is virtually no media discussion about one of the most fundamental aspects of the health care debate – is health insurance a right?
Journalists have discussed virtually every other aspect of health insurance, but not this most fundamental piece..