Related Experiment Videos
How compatible are liberty and equality in structuring a health care system?
1Pacific Lutheran University, 1010 122nd Street South, Tacoma, WA 98447, USA. menzelpt@plu.edu
The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
|June 20, 2003
Summary
Liberty and equality in health policy are not as conflicting as commonly believed. Reconciling these values can lead to better health care systems, suggesting universal coverage and income-based coverage are compatible.
Area of Science:
- Health Policy
- Moral Philosophy
- Distributive Justice
Background:
- Liberty and equality are often perceived as conflicting in health care system design.
- This perceived conflict frequently positions health policy as an ideological battleground.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the assumption of an intractable conflict between liberty/responsibility and equality/cost-efficiency in health policy.
- To deconstruct the rigid association between liberty-focused philosophies and market-based health systems, and egalitarian philosophies and public health systems.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical analysis of the moral underpinnings of liberty and equality in health care.
- Examination of the intersection between liberty and equality within health care systems.
Main Results:
- The conflict between individual liberty and equality in health care is less intractable than commonly assumed.
- Stereotypical associations between specific philosophies and health system paradigms can be broken.
Conclusions:
- Reconciliation between liberty and equality in health care is possible through a nuanced understanding of their moral components.
- Semi-libertarian views should support compulsory, universal health coverage, and egalitarian views need not reject income-differentiated coverage as inherently unjust.