National Health Care Systems: Concurring Conflicts

Abstract

The moral dilemmas and politics of public health care are central to discussions of its economic and bureaucratic burdens. These burdens, and the assessment of appropriate, acceptable public response, become more serious and more challenging issues for two reasons: (1) Progress in medical technology and in the art and sciences of medicine have improved dramatically the successes of medical intervention. Past generations did not worry about economics or moral costs and benefits of helping people who suffered from infectious or deadly diseases, because, more often than not, no efficacious treatments were available. As in all cases of progress and the application of science and technology, questions are raised with regard to the moral and economic assessment and management of each particular technology [24]; (2) Conflicting values and goals appear in open societies that honor, on the one hand, value pluralism, political liberalism, free choice, and risk-taking, and, on the other hand, social solidarity. These societies promote equality of all citizens and justice for all, and “minimally decent” health care as a public good. Societal goods, however, do often compete with each other, and they need prudent and experienced assessment and management.KeywordsRisk ManagementLife StyleEqual AccessPublic Health CareIndividual CitizenThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.