274821 Health Care as a Human Right: New Mexico Legislation

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 2:30 PM - 2:45 PM

Gerald Ortiz y Pino, State Senator , Bernalillo County, New Mexico State Senate, Albuquerque, NM
     
During each of the last two years I have introduced a proposed State constitutional amendment on health care as a basic human right recognized by the State of New Mexico. It is my intention to continue introducing this Senate Joint Resolution each year I am in the legislature--until it passes. It has proven to be an extremely rich source of public discourse on a wide number of issues related to health care, fundamental issues which must be dealt with forthrightly if we as a society are to ever have any hope of moving past our current dismal preoccupation with the "economics of health care". I am struck by the wide diversity in responses this proposal has elicited. Instantaneous support from health reform activists; puzzled curiosity from those who had long "assumed" such a right was already well established; vehement opposition from those satisfied with our current two-tiered, entrepreneurial health care system...despite its expense and its embarrassing results; those are the pivot points around which a great many expressions of values, beliefs and (yes), even accounting principles have been expressed as we debate the merits of the proposal. It occurred to me that this debate is itself valuable. It leads to an examination of our marginalization of public health (and really all preventive efforts) with a concomitant and dangerous focus of energy and dollars on technology-driven, high-end treatment, especially for those in the final weeks of life. And it is an essential dialogue for successfully implementing the Federal Affordable Care Act.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Analyze the underlying values and beliefs about the government's role in health care that produce support for or resistance to the campaign to add health care as a basic right in a state constitution. Explain the beneficial consequences of taking such a step on the way health care is delivered. Compare the impact of such a step on prevention efforts with the current marginalization of public health and preventive efforts.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Human Rights

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a retired social worker and public program administrator with 42 years' experience in all aspects of health policy at the state and local level, I have spent the 8 years of my service in the NM State Senate working on improving health care policy. For the last two sessions I have sponsored a constitutional amendment that would add to the state constitution the simple phrase, "health care is a basic human right".
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3317.0: Policy Advocacy for Health: Legislating Health as a Human Right