Is health care a right?

Would it be ethical for an employer to require overtime and not pay employees for the work? What if it is just really a busy time and the public needed access to the store? What would happen if the employer instituted this policy? Would it be easier or harder for the employer to find people willing to work there?

The answer, of course, is that employers cannot force employees to work without pay. And employees would look for other places to find work and make a living - quickly!

Yet, when we talk about health care, what we know to be morally repugnant - forcing people to work without pay for fear of sanction - does not seem to apply.

Some in government - elected officials and bureaucrats - and some activists believe that health care is a “right.” They see a need for specialty coverage in emergency rooms that are currently lacking. They believe that physicians have a moral obligation to be available to provide care that is needed.

Yet the very same people generally do not believe that health care providers should expect to be paid for being available at any time of the day or night, seven days a week, for their expertise and experience.

EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) was passed by Congress to prevent “patient dumping.” The requirements put forth in the law have had a negative effect on patient care by making specialists less likely to take emergency calls at hospitals. Some hospitals have responded by making calls mandatory.

Specialists have responded by giving up hospital privileges. The overall impact has been to make emergency specialty care more difficult to find. Nearly every hospital in the Valley today lacks specialist coverage in at least one major area, from orthopedic surgery to urology to cardiology to plastic surgery.

Some want emergency calls to be a requirement of licensing or Medicare participation for physicians. Some just want to regulate physician revenues so tightly that doctors will be forced to take calls just to make a living. These laws and regulations will only make the access problems worse.

Just as it is morally repugnant for employers or the government to require workers to work extra hours without pay, it is unethical for a society that cherishes freedom to create a system where a right to health care obligates doctors to provide care at any time, and for a price that is dictated by government.

Dr. Eric Novack is a Glendale orthopedic surgeon and an expert in health care issues. He can be heard Sundays at 3 p.m. on KKNT 960 AM.