Paying for Health Care - by Heather Marino

I do not think that we owe health care to Robert Ingram. I understand his position: he is a working individual but makes very little money and has to care for a sickly wife; however, I struggle with the fact that he did not have the foresight to look ahead and acquire some sort of health insurance. I'm sure that there was some point in his life where he was capable of landing some form of job that would have afforded insurance. Additionally, I struggle with the fact that he was trying to run his own business without providing health care for himself. I don't know that people should be able to run their own business if they cannot provide health insurance for themselves. I think it is very unwise and negligent on the part of Ingram. For all citizens with health insurance, they pay into it regularly and draw out of it when they fall ill. In the same way, people without health insurance hope to draw out of that well unfairly. They never have to pay into it but only draw out of it. Is this fair or just? What is the point of troubling yourself with paying for health insurance month after month if when you get ill, you can get someone to pay for you anyway, even if you didn't pay? It seems to me that it is very unfair and we ought to reward those who think ahead. Ingram has not taken the responsibility to care for himself and his wife and must pay the subsequent consequences. In this instance, I do not think it morally impermissible to withhold healthcare from Ingram as he did not pull his own weight in society. Running his own business should have been the last thing on his mind. He should have first obtained a job, even if only minimum wage, just so that he might have health insurance for his wife and himself and then made extra money on the side with his personal pursuits.