Healthcare in America: Right or Privilege?

Wyoming Health Department Director Tom Forslund says the central question about health care in the U.S. is whether it is a “right of citizenship or a privilege of wealth. He told the Cheyenne Sunrise Rotary Club June 13 systems “across the world” have determined it is basic right of citizenship.

    Of his department’s over one billion dollar budget, the largest in state government, the biggest chunk is for the Medicaid program, which he said people often think of as being for the poor. Actually, he said, “the number one cost of Medicaid services is support for the developmentally disabled, and next is nursing homes. The perception is out there that it’s just for a bunch of bums who just need to go out and get a job, but that’s not true,” Forslund said.