title: The medical minimum: zero.
abstract: The question is what the mandated medical minimum for all should be. The correct answer is zero. That is to say, the government should not be forcing anyone to pay for anyone. The most popular arguments within the liberal framework, presumed to be shared by all, are briefly surveyed. Health care is provided by someone to someone else, and that someone else should either be paying for it, or recognize that someone is providing it charitably to him or her. Compelling someone else to pay for it is something we have no basic right to do.
authors.affiliation: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. jnarveso@uwaterloo.ca
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Narveson
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D033161:Government Regulation; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000941:ethics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D012941:Social Responsibility; D014481:United States; D019472:Universal Health Insurance / Q000941:ethics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*