How Health Care Can Be Cost-Effective and Fair

Methods used to allocate healthcare resources have been criticized for being unfair. Daniel M. Hausman argues that cost-effectiveness should be a guiding principle, but other factors, such as compassion and fairness, should also be considered.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 13 March 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Methods designed to guide the allocation of healthcare so as to maximize population health have come under fire for being fundamentally unfair. In a more in-depth examination of this ethical critique of the use of cost-effectiveness, author Daniel M. Hausman responds to the primary concerns about the unfairness of cost-effectiveness, while also acknowledging that other factors, particularly in cases of discrimination, should guide health-related treatment.

At the heart of How Health Care Can Be Cost-Effective and Fair lies the question of whether cost-effective allocation of healthcare violates ethical constraints. Several commentators argue that using cost-effective reasoning to guide the distribution of healthcare is fundamentally unfair, not only because it fails to consider distribution but also because it fails to prioritize the severity of illness and fails to give everyone, particularly disabled people and those from historically underprivileged populations, a fair chance of being treated. While Hausman recognizes the complexity and shortcomings of cost-effective reasoning, he maintains that it should be a guiding principle in the allocation of health-related resources.

In Hausman's view, healthcare should be governed by a range of values, including compassion, freedom, respect, and solidarity, in addition to promoting well-being and treating individuals fairly. In its efforts to promote population health fairly, healthcare should respond to and respect individuals' values and choices.

Weight: 504g
Dimension: 242 x 161 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197656969