Vertical equity: weighting outcomes? or establishing procedures?
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Updated: Oct 21, 2026

Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (Propensity Score) using the Military Health System Data Repository and National Death Index
Published on: January 8, 2020
1Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia.
Abstract:
Considerations of equity in the health policy literature have in the main focussed on horizontal equity (the equal treatment of equals) and as a consequence have tended to overlook vertical equity (the unequal, but equitable, treatment of unequals). There is evidence from earlier, if preliminary, work carried out by the authors and a colleague that health care decision makers may well want to embrace concerns for vertical equity in the allocation of health service resources. This paper examines some possibilities for incorporating vertical equity into health care policy through distributive and/or procedural justice. While no firm solutions are offered, it is suggested that the idea of fitting John Broome's notion of 'claims' within a communitarian framework holds promise.
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