Nurses Believe Access to Health Care is a Basic Human Right

Yet there is more work to be done. At the end of 2015, more than 28 million people were still uninsured in the United States. The nurses of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) consider access to quality health care a basic human right. As leaders in women’s health, nurses can and should use their positions to advocate for comprehensive health care services for all, especially women and infants.

It is clear that absence of insurance contributes to lack of access to basic health care services that help keep people well. People who are uninsured are at greater risk for negative health consequences. Researchers confirm that these people are less likely to receive preventive, recommended, and follow-up care, including prescriptions. The consequences of not seeking care can be severe, especially when preventable conditions, chronic diseases, or life-threatening diseases go undetected. As a result, people without insurance are in worse health than those with insurance and they are more frequently hospitalized for preventable conditions.

AWHONN supports policy initiatives that increase access to and affordability of health insurance, but insurance is just one part of the story. Even if individuals have private insurance or if they qualify for Medicaid, there are institutional and cultural barriers that impede access to care. For example, lawfully present immigrants do not qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Undocumented immigrants are not able to purchase health insurance on the exchange created under the Affordable Care Act, nor do they qualify for any of the subsidies created under the law.