Health rights are a common but controversial legal phenomenon. Every country is signatory to a treaty that incorporates health rights, yet existing health rights do not fit easily into the traditional "claim right" model, and questions remain over how to theoretically incorporate health rights into domestic systems. The Pluralist Right to Health Care addresses this incongruity between theory and practice with an account of the right to health care that is both philosophically and practically sound.
Utilizing a pluralist framework, Michael Da Silva argues that the right to health care is best understood as a set of claims to related ends: the goods necessary for a dignified existence, procedural fairness in determining what other goods to provide and in the provision of goods, and a functioning health care system. Through philosophical reasoning, analysis of relevant international human rights law, and a close study of the Canadian case, The Pluralist Right to Health Care provides crucial insight into the potential of law and policy to improve health care systems in Canada and beyond.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Health Rights: The Phenomenon and the Problem
The Existing Literature
The Current Project
Part I: Conceptualizing and Measuring the Right to Health Care
Chapter 2: Health Rights: A Taxonomy
Introduction
Rights and Duties
A Brief Taxonomy of Health Rights (and Health Rights Projects)
The Present Project’s Place in the Taxonomy
Problems Facing Existing Health Rights
Conclusion
Chapter 3: The Case for a Pluralist Conception of the Right to Health Care
Introduction
A Pluralist Model is Necessary to Account for the Right’s Uncontroversial Features
(a) The Goods Necessary for a Dignified Existence Jointly Constitute a Necessary Component of the Right to Health Care
(b) The Goods Necessary for a Dignified Existence Alone Do Not Capture All That Should Be Under the Right to Health Care
(c) Procedural Fairness in Health Care Allocation is a Necessary Component of the Right to Health Care
(d) Procedural Fairness Alone Does Not Capture All That Should Be Under the Right to Health Care
(e) A Functioning Health Care System is a Necessary Component of the Right to Health Care
(f) A Functioning Health Care System Alone Does Not Capture All That Should Be Under the Right to Health Care
The Pluralist Model Has Further Advantages
The Pluralist Model Can Withstand (Other) Serious Criticisms One May Raise Against It
(a) Objection 1: The Minimum Floor Remains Subject to Problems Plaguing Any Attempt at Specifying Content
(b) Objection 2: The Pluralist Model Cannot Identify a Traditional Right
(c) Objection 3: Dignity Cannot Form the Basis of a Justiciable Right
(d) Objection 4: Health Outcomes Should Be Primary
(e) Objection 5: Applying Constitutional Standards is Preferable
Conclusion
Chapter 4: The Pluralist Right to Health Care and International Human Rights Law
Introduction
Methodology
The Core Components of the International Right to Health Reflect Concerns with Each Element of the Pluralist Right to Health Care and Instantiate the Pluralist Right
(a) Universal Access to Health Care
(b) Prioritization of Certain Goods and Peoples
(c) Progressive Realization of Other Aspects of the Right
(d) Modes of Domestic Implementation
(e) Remedies
(f) Improved Health Outcomes
Conclusion
Appendix 1: A (Non-Exhaustive) List of Key Sources for Identifying the International Right to Health Care
Chapter 5: Metrics for Realization of the Right to Health Care
Introduction
International Law and Empirical Metrics
Metrics for Right to Health Care Realization
(A) Health Care System/Policy Markers
(B) Self-Defined Benchmarks and Indicators
(C) Coverage of and Access to Essential Goods
(D) Daniels and Sabin’s Fairness Markers
(E) Rates of Access to the Goods Selected in the Process from (d)
(F) Progressive Realization
Dual Application of the Metrics
Putting the Metrics to Work
Objections and Replies
(a) Objection 1: These Metrics Do Not Easily Map onto the Components of the Pluralist Right
(b) Objection 2: No State Can or Should Be Expected to Score Well on All These Metrics
(c) Objection 3: These Metrics Break with An Important Development in International Law
(d) Objection 4: These Metrics Ignore the Perspective of Rights Holders
Conclusion
Appendix 2: Metrics for Comparative Analysis of Right to Health Care Implementation
Part II: The Right to Health Care in Canada: A Case Study in Realization
Chapter 6: The Mainstream Canadian Health Care System and the Pluralist Right to Health Care
Introduction
An Introduction to the Canadian Health Care System
The Mainstream Canadian Health Care System Does Not Ensure Access to Many Goods Necessary for a Dignified Existence
The Mainstream Canadian Health Care System Fulfills Some, But Not All, Aspects of Accountability for Reasonableness
The Mainstream Canadian Health Care System Does Not Have All the Systemic Elements Demanded by the Pluralist Right to Health Care
Canada’s Progressive Realization of the Right is Difficult to Assess and Substantive Progress Appears Minimal
Conclusion
Chapter 7: Vulnerable Populations in Canada and the Pluralist Right to Health Care
Introduction
An Introduction to Two Vulnerable Population-Specific Programs: The IFHP and the NIHBP
The IFHP and NIHBP Fill Some Gaps in Essential Goods Coverage for Some Persons, but Barriers to Access Remain
The IFHP and NIHBP Do Not Fulfill All Procedural Demands of the Pluralist Right to Health Care
The IFHP and NIHBP Help Fill in Some Gaps in Canada’s Realization of the Systemic Component of the Pluralist Right to Health Care
The NIHBP is Gradually Progressively Realizing the Right
The IFHP Required Multiple Interventions to Avoid Serious Deliberate Retrogression in Right to Health Care Realization
Conclusion
Chapter 8: Tools for Better Realizing the Pluralist Right to Health Care in Canada
Introduction
Three Branches of Canadian Public Law
(a) Constitutional Law
(b) Human Rights Law
(c) Non-Human Rights-Based Administrative Law
Possible Legal Paths Forward
(a) Constitutional Law
(b) Human Rights Law
(b) Non-Human Rights-Based Administrative Law
Conclusion
Conclusion: Next Steps
Chapter 9: Concluding Thoughts and the Path(s) Forward
Introduction
Summary
Directions for Future Research
Height:239
Width:157
Spine:23
Weight:600.00