Richard D. Lamm

Although basic health care should be provided to all U.S. citizens, it must not be considered a human right, Richard D. Lamm argues in the following viewpoint. According to Lamm, rights are an ultimate value whose meaning is diluted if the label is ascribed to everything that is considered good and necessary in a just society. He asserts that the United States has limited resources that can be allocated to healthcare and that some restrictions are therefore inevitable, even
if it means that certain medical treatments will not be available to all patients. Lamm is the former governor of Colorado and the director of the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues at the University of Denver.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Lamm, third-party payers cover what fraction...