Health as a human right: who is eligible?
In Hawaii, health care is a commodity, not a human right: those who can afford it receive care, those who cannot often don't. As health workers and health professional students, we witness the consequences that public policies and budget considerations have on people, on patients, on the health of those that we are dedicated to assisting. Beginning with a case study, we examine the historical antecedents leading to the increasing migration of Micronesians to Hawaii, examine the special relation that (Compact of Free Association) citizens have with the United States, and seek to reframe the political discussion regarding their health care status in this state as a debate in which medical considerations, not political or economic ones, should be the primary voice.
John A Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, USA.
Aaron
A
Saunders
Teresa
T
Schiff
Katherine
K
Rieth
Seiji
S
Yamada
Gregory G
GG
Maskarinec
Sheldon
S
Riklon
D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000266:history; D006254:Hawaii; D006291:Health Policy / Q000266:history; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008849:Micronesia / Q000208:ethnology; D011057:Politics