Access to Health Care in Human Rights Law and the Case of the United States

Abstract

Several international conventions guarantee the human right to health; this right includes the right to equal access to health care, which is the focus of this thesis. In analyzing the topic, particular attention is placed on international human rights law and on the situation of the United States. The first two chapters address the right from an international law perspective; in the first one, the international law sources that include the right are mentioned and analyzed, considerable attention is given to the ICESCR (and its General Comment No.14), and to the WHO framework. In the second chapter, the subject of justiciability of the right at international level is addressed. The third and fourth chapters deal with the U.S.: its health care system, health care reforms, and public health care measures are analyzed through the lens of human rights.