More importantly, HAVEN’s supporters operate on the hope of spreading their common philosophical belief that health care is a basic human right, not a commodity. Regardless of nationality, social status, and creed, everyone deserves to live a life free of sickness and destitution. A social services worker noted something interesting: "In America, even if we know that a person is guilty of a crime, we provide them with a lawyer, free of cost. We’re a nation that holds civil liberties and individual freedom at high regard. Why is the same not the case for medicine?"

Luckily, the hospital administration community has not overlooked the actions of free care clinics. Several hospitals in central Texas, New York, and Denver have begun to assess the financial effects of providing free care to uninsured patients. Their figures confirm HAVEN’s hypothesis: hospitals can save valuable time and treatment costs by taking in those unable to afford the treatment. These hospitals have therefore taken the initiative as well to provide free follow-up care to their uninsured emergency patients or referring them to free/low cost community health care initiatives. By allotting scheduled charity care to such patients, they avoid incurring the greater costs and administrative nightmares associated with emergency room use. Though a temporary solution to the greater dilemma of America’s health care crisis, the measure is a bold step for humanitarianism.

Andrew Chang is a senior Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major in Morse College at Yale University.