Care for the elderly: the question of social goals

Fiscal and strategic issues control healthcare policy in the United States, with questions of moral good drawing scant attention. A consequent need exists for policymakers and practitioners somewhere in the system to raise questions about the ultimate social goals of healthcare policy for the elderly. One approach to determining potential social goods is to examine standoffs that can occur between values. Should healthcare for the elderly be based on recompense for sociatal contributions, monetary and otherwise, or should it be based on need, disadvantage, and vulnerability? Should long-term care receive a greater share of the attention that now goes to acute care services? Should healthcare policy emphasize individual rights, needs, and resources, or society's priorities, needs, and resources? Our unreadiness to deal with questions of the ultimate good of healthcare for the elderly only promises ethical perplexity for the future.