"A privilege becomes a right in about a week" Jay Lichman

I don't find too much to get angry about anymore, but whenever I hear politicians or talking heads discussing the "right to healthcare" I kind of lose it.
Some deep confusion is going on.
Voting is a right, free speech is a right, being stupid is a right, but healthcare is not.
Nothing that requires someone else to work for you for free can be a right, they used to call that slavery.
However, I will give the healthcare-as-a-right advocates some leeway, and put healthcare into the societal imperative category, sort of like free public schools and police protection.
Even with this accommodation, a "right" is being confused with a privilege.
As an analogy, lets discuss the "right" not to starve.
On a recent trip to Paris my wife and I had a great meal for $250 each.
We also had a great meal for $100 each, and a pretty good sandwich for $10 each(a place called "Paul").
My guess is that you could get the equivalent calories, in rice and beans, for about $2.
Most would agree the more expensive meals would be a privilege, but at what price level does "right' kick in?(my guess is the $2 a day).
The problem is that with medical care, no such distinction is made.
The problem is made manifest by situations like the article I found in a New York Tabloid, describing how a prisoner recently got a liver transplant(at taxpayer expense).
Is everyone, no matter what their circumstances entitled to whatever the latest and most expensive care America can muster? Does the right include such items as yearly total body CT screening, weight loss surgery, face lifts, and third line, experimental chemotherapy for end stage lung cancer? In a perfect world, when everyone has equivalent rights to medical care, this might make some perverted sense.
However in a world where children don't get vaccinations, and people cannot afford prescriptions, some reassessment is in order.
My solution is to define what we mean by "right to healthcare" by setting a minimum standard that everyone receives, paid for by the government, no questioned asked.
The minimum standard would be pretty minimum, at the 20% level I spoke of previously, something similar to what is included in England.
If you want more covered, you can buy private insurance at your own expense.
It is going to be a tough sell.
Differentiating privilege from right is going to be difficult in America.
http://www.
vosizneias.
com/60808/2010/07/26/new-york-ny-suicidal-killer-gets-liver-transplant-skipping-1800-on-waiting-list/