A Wisconsin Senator told a group of high school students that healthcare "was more of a privilege" rather than a right. This and other news in our latest Health News Roundup.

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  • Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) spoke to a group of high-school students near Milwaukee last week. When a student asked him if he, “personally consider(ed) healthcare as a privilege or a right?” the senator replied:
  • “I think it’s probably more of a privilege. Do you consider food a right? Do you consider clothing a right? Do you consider shelter a right? What we have as rights (are) life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Past that point, we have the right to freedom. Past that point everything else is a limited resource that we have to use our opportunities given to us to afford those things... Sen. Rand Paul talked about this on the floor of the Senate. He’s a doctor. He said the minute you consider healthcare a right, well, who’s going to satisfy that right? And those people who have the skills to satisfy that right, what does that make them if they’re forced to provide you with that rightful product or service?”
  • Research that helped discover the clocks running in every cell in our bodies earned three scientists a Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday. Studies show that if we mess with the body's natural sleep-wake cycle — say, by working an overnight shift, taking a trans-Atlantic flight or staying up all night with a new baby or puppy — we pay the price. How? Our blood pressure goes up, hunger hormones get thrown off and blood sugar control goes south. Over time, if living against the clock becomes a way of life, this may set the stage for weight gain and metabolic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.
  • CNN reported that an old tattoo was to blame for an Australian woman's lymphoma.
  • And lastly, a commentator for CNBC laid out "three things Trump can do right now to lower healthcare costs" which includes opening up healthcare competition across state lines, tightening regulations on hospitals, and publishing healthcare prices.

Do you think healthcare is a privilege or a right? Do you agree that there should be more healthcare competition across state lines? Let us know in the comments or weigh in on Facebook.

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