Social sustainability depends on our willingness and ability to maintain the integrity of human society.

Maintaining the health and regenerative capacity of families, communities, and societies in general may be referred to as pursuit of the common good the good of all people for all times. John Ikerd, professor at University of Missouri 03. It is because I agree with the importance of his statement that I stand in strong affirmation of the Resolution; Resolved: the United States ought to guarantee universal health care for its citizens. For the purpose of this debate I would like to offer the following definitionsfrom Webster

Ought: used to express obligation , advisability, natural expectation, or logical consequenceGuarantee: an assurance for the fulfillment of a condition

From the DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services)

Citizen: individuals born in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Swains Island and individuals granted citizenship status by Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS).

From the AMSA (american association of medical students)

Universal Health Care: a basic guarantee of health care to all of its citizens

From Mosbys Medical Dictionary

Basic Health Care: the minimum degree of healthcare considered to be necessary to maintain adequate health and protection from disease.

From Webster

adequate: sufficient for a specific requirement

This specific requirement being the propagation of the general welfare, incidentally I present you with the highest value of todays round: the general welfare of American citizens. The general welfare or common good, has been defined as the good of all people for all time- but in the confines of this debate, will be restricted to the good of all American citizens for all time. The preamble to the United States Constitution

reads
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Therefore promoting the general welfare is important, not only when you apply Ikard 03 but also when you follow the values of our nations founding fathers. The best criterion for evaluating this resolution is universal accessibility- meaning the value which is most easily obtained for all Americans. So in order to win this debate I must prove my value, general welfare of the American citizens as the most accessible value in this round. Before analyzing the following contentions, please observe the following: Observation 1: health care plays a crucial part in allowing the pursuit of a good life(henneberger, '11)

Good health is fundamental in most conceptions of a good life, it is generally necessary in order to participate in activities and be the subject of experiences. A lack of health limits ones function precluding the activities and experiences which are vital to the human. Healthcare is the best means by which to correct and bring back some degree of function.
this idea is not a new idea, as it was originally visited in 1954 by Abraham Maslow and his "hierarchy of needs." In affirming the resolution, I offer the following contentions: 1. Preexisting conditions, a. The decision of healthcare should be made behind the veil of ignorance (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy '08)

The position is a central feature of Rawlss social contract account of justice, justice as fairness It is designed to be a fair and impartial point of view, to be adopted into our reasoning about fundamental principles of justice. The main feature it the veil of ignorance: to insure impartiality of judgement, the parties are deprived of all knowledge of their personal characteristics and social and historical

circumstances.
Acting under the veil of ignorance is works hand in hand with Aristotles theory of tabula rasa whereas it its important to make decisions involving the protection of health of a citizen with no prior bias- from this position we should place ourselves as equals to everyone, agreeing to commit themselves to justice and the general welfare. This will of course, be simple for the American citizens to grasp, as fairness is a growth need, designated in Maslows hierarchy and had been drilled into our American values since we were still British. b. Non-Universal Healthcare creates discriminatory barriers to coverage (Daniels '08)

There are several important kinds of non-financial barriers. These include forms of discrimination and exclusion, including cultural attitudes toward disease and medical care. These kinds of barriers to access act as obstacles to providing adequate health care in the U.S. If justice requires providing universal access to health care, then these barriers must be addressed as a matter of justice.
Essentially, across the country citizens are not only not provided with just basic health care, but even denied their right to realistically accessible health insurance, and as we are applying Henneberer 11 and Maslows hierarchy, these citizens are denied their right to a good life. According to Healthreform.gov a recent study proved 12 million non-elderly adults were discriminated against due to prexisting conditions- conditions from cancer to asthma, heart disease to high school sports injuries. Even when these cases attempted to purchase care directly, in the individual insurance market, companies discriminated against them: not because they could not pay, but because somehow the companies had the right to decide whether someone is too much a liability to insure. c. Good health is necessary to exercise the fundamental rights of liberty Hoffman 03

One might ask why moral fairness is a legitimate consideration in the health insurance context. Norman

Daniels argues that reasonable access to health care is necessary to promote fair equality of opportunity for all members of society to achieve normal functioning. That reasonably good health is necessary to exercise the fundamental rights of liberty.
Considering this and the highest value of general welfare, we do ought to guarantee UHC, in turn guaranteeing equal opportunity to enjoy and succeed in life- equal opportunity granting wide accessibility, wide accessibility to this "joy and success" trails into accessibility to a good life, which is the greatest good for all people for all time. This proves supporting the resolution, supports the general welfare in the most accessible way, winning the round for the Affirmation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------According to "Dying for Coverage," the latest report by Families USA, 72 Americans die each day, 500 Americans die every week and approximately Americans 2,175 die each month, due to lack of health insurance.