Is free healthcare our moral duty?
Torah clearly states we are morally obligated to help those less fortunate. Maimonides says we must provide them with free medical treatment as well, as this is part of our ethical responsibilities towards others as human beings
The argument about healthcare in the United States is heating. According to many on the right the United States has the best healthcare in the world and it should not be tampered with. According to the left the entire healthcare system needs to be overhauled because, in their view, it does not meet the needs of a modern society.
But the question is more fundamental: What are our ethical responsibilities when it comes to caring for the health of others? Do we as a society have a responsibility to provide health care that is—similar to the National Health Service in the UK—universal, tax funded and free at the point of need?
The answer according to the Bible is yes. In fact we have that responsibility not only to people who are citizens of the country but to all its inhabitants as well. There is one principle verse in the Torah from which this is learned. It states: “If your brother becomes destitute and his hand falters beside you, you shall support him (whether) a stranger or a resident, so that he can live with you” (Leviticus, Chapter 25). The Torah is very clear: We are morally obligated to help those less fortunate than ourselves. We are prohibited from allowing others to go hungry or become homeless.
But as Maimonides points out it goes much further than that. This verse teaches us that not only must we sustain others with food and shelter if they fall on hard times, but we must provide them with free medical treatment as well (Maimonides: Avodah Zara 10:3). This is part of our ethical responsibilities towards others as human beings.
In addition the Torah teaches that this care for others must be universal. When it comes to social justice, unlike other versions of law, the Torah sees no difference between a citizen, a foreigner or a visitor - we need to treat them all equally. Thus, we are obligated to provide free medical care to the stranger as well as to the citizen.
Doing the bare minimum
With the current system, America is very far from this biblical ideal of medical practice that is based on a moral and social responsibility. According to recent studies, someone files for bankruptcy in the United States due to a serious health problem every 30 seconds. About 1.5 million families lose their homes to foreclosure annually due to high medical costs and elderly couples need a minimum of $250,000 in savings just to pay for the most basic medical coverage. Clearly while the medical system in the USA might be healing some people it is simultaneously crippling them in a different way.Whilst it may be argued that our moral obligation to treat everyone for free is provided for by the law guaranteeing free medical treatment at an emergency room, this is clearly doing the bare minimum and is not nearly enough. We all know people who go without vital medication simple because they cannot afford it. And many people with chronic conditions are not properly cared for because they can’t afford health insurance and consequently doctors won’t take them under their care.
There is no doubt that the health system in the United States needs to be overhauled in line with our societal moral obligations as they are described in the Torah and explained by the Sages. Exactly how this should be done is a matter for Congress and the Obama Administration to work out. The framework however is clear: It must be free at the point of need and open to everyone equally. Anything less would be shirking our moral obligations.
Rabbi Levi Brackman is author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success: Lesson from the Torah and Other Ancient Texts
