Catholic Social Teaching, the Common Good, and Health Care in the United States: Seeking a Universal Model of Health Care Coverage
Currently in the United States, estimates reveal that around 43 million Americans are uninsured and several million more are underinsured, and the numbers continue to rise. In the most powerful, wealthiest, and medically-technologically advanced country in the world, this situation is deplorable. This paper will investigate the social teachings of the Catholic Church as a foundation for universal health care in the United States. Focusing in particular on the principle of the common good, we will investigate a universal model of health care coverage proposed by Alain Enthoven and Richard Kronick .2 These authors "propose a set of public policies and institutions designed to give everyone access to a subsidized but responsible choice of efficient managed care . ... ,,3 Given the socioeconomic political structures in the United States, we will argue that their proposal defends the common good as developed in Catholic social teaching and is a plausible solution to the crisis of health care coverage in the United States.