Zhang

Social Justice Research, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1987

Equity and the allocation of Health Care Resources: proposition or Oxymoron?

Rosemary R. Lichtman

Pg 253

“However, in other circumstances, as individuals possess the ability to make choices about their health , it is necessary to take into account the historical health-related choices made by them in order to make statements relative to any alleged inequities.”

“Any policy decisions concerning changes in the financing of health care should, in their view, be guided by several goals: to induce socially efficient health care utilization, to spread the risk across the population, to spread the risk across a person’s lifetime, and to distribute the resources equitably by need (both in terms of income and health status). Health care revenues generally arise from four different sources: income tax, payroll tax, direct payments (user fees), and insurance premiums.”

Pg 254

“In order to achieve justice with respect to health care, there must be equality of the burdens of health care as well as equal access to care both in terms of the existing supply and the preallocative sphere.”

“…because the social trends of medicalization, social inclusion, biomedical transcendence, and health absolutism have crated a high demand for medical care, it is becoming more and more difficult to provide for all of the increasing health-related needs as perceived by society.

Pg 255

“Our society is in the midst of establishing various innovative programs to bring about the equality to which we have committed ourselves, but with little thought about objectively evaluating the outcome of the programs. If they compromise the quality of care we have been able to achieve to date, that outcome should weigh heavily in the efficiency-efficacy-equity equation.”