Yesterday, NESRI along with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) released a human rights assessment, Human Right to Health Care: Nominees’ Plans Lag Behind Public Demands. 

According to human rights standards, the human right to health care requires a system of health protection, which ensures that everyone can get adequate health care, where and when they need it, regardless of their ability to pay. However, the presidental nominees’ plans rely on market competition to solve the current health care crisis, without addressing how markets could be incentivized to put health protection ahead of profits. This assessment compares Senators Obama and McCain’s plans and provides suggestions for some basic steps the nominees could take towards meeting human rights standards. In an election year, politicians cannot afford to ignore public opinion – and polls have shown that an overwhelming majority of people consider health care a human right that our government must protect.