Is There A Right To Healthcare?

Is healthcare a right? Many controversies over healthcare have been present in the media lately. Passage of the affordable care act (ACA) also known as Obama care in March 2010 focused on cost and access, intended to be the solution to years, decades, of healthcare discrepancies. It offered healthcare to all at affordable prices and penalized citizens who did not carry health insurance. The problem is that ACA is only affordable if you can afford it and no one should have to decide between debt and health. Bioethical principles govern healthcare, as an advanced practice nurse, a delicate relationship between the principles must be maintained, therefore, consideration must be given as of how each bioethical principle is affected by the right to healthcare. Healthcare is a right and a necessity of every American citizen, but not only the right to healthcare is important, also the right healthcare needs to be provided; with the ultimate goal of decreasing health disparities and improving the population health.