The Cost of Rights

By the Foundation for Health Studies | 2024

The Cost of Rights in Health as Fiscal Justice for Social Justice is a paper that explores how taxation, politics, and human rights intersect within the Argentine context. Facing challenges in public spending—exacerbated by public debt—governments must prioritise essential policies such as those related to public health. The structure of the tax system and fiscal privileges can distort income distribution, resulting in insufficient resources for essential healthcare services and disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. Inspired by The Cost of Rights: Why Liberty Depends on Taxes by Holmes and Sunstein, the paper highlights the need for tangible resource allocation to ensure the effectiveness of fundamental rights. It underscores the importance of using indicators to assess the fulfilment of economic, social, and cultural rights as a means of governmental accountability. This work seeks to explore how measuring the cost of health rights can promote greater fiscal equity and contribute to social justice through adequate investment and efficient public resource management.