Throughout the nation there are many civilians who struggle to get the access to

healthcare that they need, they are severely in debt, and the healthcare system failed them in

many ways.

Before discussing all the background and flaws with Access to Healthcare it is important

to understand what justice is. There are four main types of justice but the main one that pertains

to accessing healthcare is the distributive justice. Distributive justice requires distribution and

fairness but also requires distribution through taxation and fair access to resources. An

insufficiency in the distributive justice may look like two people getting the same treatment but

one person is paying more for the treatment. The healthcare system currently is lacking in the

distributive justice system and there are many Americans who are not able to afford the system.

Healthcare needs to take a more traditional route and use the justice of fairness. In a book named

A Theory of Justice written by John Rawls he states, “All social values—liberty and opportunity,

income and wealth, and the bases of self-respect—are to be distributed equally unless an unequal

distribution of any, or all, of these values is to everyone's advantage.” In this quote he states that

any social value we may have shall not distinguish how our rights are distributed and if they are

distributed unequally everyone should have the same rule. The current healthcare system has

created a diverse system, leaving many Americans at a loss and can no longer pay for it anymore.

Access to healthcare has become very sparce and hard for many Americans to have.

There are many statistics, anecdotes, and current events to back up how hard it is to have access

to healthcare. Many Americans have been impacted by the healthcare in America and some have

had to choose their house mortgage or have money to be able to put food on the table instead of

prioritizing their health. In Alabama 27% are uninsured adults and 33% of them skipped out on

insurance because of costs. An average American pays approximately $400-$500 a month on

health insurance. While the average household pays the same amount for food each month,

statistically showing that if someone does not have enough money for groceries, they will more

than likely not have enough for their health insurance. There was a daughter named Alicia, her

mother had cancer and fought until she could no longer pay for her medical bills. In the article

Alicia wrote she stated that her insurance was 80-20 meaning Alicia’s mom was paying 80%

while her insurance was paying only 20%. This is just one of many Americans who have

watched or personally been affected by the healthcare system. This topic is becoming more and

more talked about and is used by many politicians to connect with Americans.

Is access to healthcare really a true crisis that is going on in our country? While many

may argue that there isn’t and there has been a massive breakthrough in access to healthcare in

America. In 2010 the Affordable Care Act also known as the “ACA” was put into place.

Basically, the ACA is a way to make health insurance more affordable and accessible to others.

While this sounds like it would help and make healthcare better it actually made it way worse for

some Americans. It increased the taxes and, in some cases, had higher insurance premiums. The

ACA is also very political, and some Americans do not agree with it. Nearly nine in ten

democrats believe it is favorable while about two thirds of republicans believe it is unfavorable.

Although this act did help many Americans there is still many who are suffering in debt and may

lose their life because they do not have enough money to access the healthcare that they need.

In conclusion the healthcare system is affecting many Americans who struggle to get the

access to healthcare that they need, they are severely in debt, and the healthcare system failed

them in many ways. The American healthcare system is lacking in distributive justice and needs

to work towards justice of fairness. The deteriorating system is very publicized and widely

known throughout our nation. This issue needs to be fixed and fairer for our country.