“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.” Hubert H. Humphrey, United States politician (1911-1978).
The government is expected to be one of the main institutions that regulate the functioning of our society by protecting people from potential threats and helping individuals in need. Its main task is to create an environment that will be considered beneficial for a persons rise and evolution. This institution possesses a unique power that could be used either for good or for bad. For this reason, Humphreys statement could help to determine the main sense of the government and its moral portrait. In case the mentioned categories can use benefits suggested by the state and feel secured, the governments functioning could be considered satisfactory as it cares for its citizens and tends to improve the quality of their lives.
Nevertheless, the modern government also tries to treat children, elderly people, and other vulnerable categories in an appropriate way; however, the situation remains complex. The health insurance system very often fails to guarantee that a person in need will be provided with the needed care. Moreover, it creates the precedent when an uninsured patient is deprived of access to any services because of his/her inability to pay caregivers (Cadet, 2014).
Very often patients suffer from the inaccessibility of health services because of their extreme costs. As for the categories mentioned in Humphreys statement, the situation is also ambiguous. Uninsured children could be provided with health care in terms of different governmental programs, when for elderly people situation is much worse (Binder, 2013).
For this reason, a radical alteration of the existing health care system is needed for it to be able to assess these categories basic needs and deliver the needed care to improve the quality of these peoples lives.
References
Binder, L. (2013). The five biggest problems in health care today. Forbes. Web.
Cadet, J. (2014). CEOs top challenges in pediatric health care. Web.
Houle, M. (2015). How our healthcare system can be deadly to the elderly. LA Times. Web.