Stewardship of Scarce Resources
Rosemary Flanigan
November 21, 2008
I know that the good people who come to monthly ethics brown bag sessions (mostly chaplains and CPE students, a few nurses, a few “others”) have nothing to do with the Charity care budget entry, but I am using the New York Times story of the “haphazard way in which the American health care system handles cases involving uninsured immigrants who are gravely injured or seriously ill.” (Nov. 9, 2008 issue)
Not that we all go “tsk, tsk,” but that we try to understand the context behind the stories. Of course, some of them should never have happened. But if the thrust of the article had been on proper reimbursement for the care of uninsured immigrants, I would have been happier with the story.
I want to see arguments from a single moral principle, the stewardship of scarce resources, for the right and good resolutions in these cases. How attenuated does “justice” become before it snaps—and is no longer justice?
What do you think? Click here to comment and view other responses.
November 21, 2008
I know that the good people who come to monthly ethics brown bag sessions (mostly chaplains and CPE students, a few nurses, a few “others”) have nothing to do with the Charity care budget entry, but I am using the New York Times story of the “haphazard way in which the American health care system handles cases involving uninsured immigrants who are gravely injured or seriously ill.” (Nov. 9, 2008 issue)
Not that we all go “tsk, tsk,” but that we try to understand the context behind the stories. Of course, some of them should never have happened. But if the thrust of the article had been on proper reimbursement for the care of uninsured immigrants, I would have been happier with the story.
I want to see arguments from a single moral principle, the stewardship of scarce resources, for the right and good resolutions in these cases. How attenuated does “justice” become before it snaps—and is no longer justice?
What do you think? Click here to comment and view other responses.
Labels: charity care, social justic, uninsured immigrants
posted by Practical Bioethics at
1:05 PM
4 Comments:
We don't talk enough about "scarce resources" in the health care field. We are more interested in "How am I going to get paid?". It was a popular concern 10+ years ago when Daniel Callahan used the language of "rationing of scarce resources", but it died out- probably because it sounded too much like socialized medicine. So, thank-you, Rosemary, for bringing it back. Hopefully, with the support of the new Administration we can see some real changes in our "stewardship of scarce resources". It sounds cleaner than "rationing".
Jim Stoddard DO
Beck’s response to "Stewardship of Scarce Resources"
Rosemary, You have a very valid point and the stewardship of health care resources is a topic in need of discussion. But, we also need a timetable for action. For the majority of those in control of our countries health care “change” is not a popular topic. “Scare resources” only seem to be a problem for those without insurance. When checking into a doctor’s office or hospital, I suspect my insurance card is more important than me. Recently when I was getting ready for outpatient surgery, the hospital called and wanted to know how I planned to handle the co-pay because it was due at the time of service. I was shocked. Insurance is the “god” of health care and those without, or "frequent fliers" as they are known in the emergency rooms of many hospitals, are out of luck. Maybe we need to start with a very focused discussion with insurance executives.
I am still in a quiet rage about how our government did not feel it was necessary to negotiate a total drug plan for our seniors. Watching an older person who is alone try and negotiate the current system is so very sad.
I feel we have been rationing health care for years. So many people are shocked when the term "slow medicine" is used. I watch as the majority of residents in long-term care facilities have experience "slow medicine" for years. We need to come together with one strong firm voice and stop being so quiet and worried about offending. We rank 25th in the world in infant mortality! We have been on the low end of the list forever. Yet we spend millions fighting abortion. Somehow it just doesn’t seem to compute. Now the Congress has decided to lower the hospice care benefit by 5% for this next year. Our society is in a deep ethical quagmire when we cannot care for the dying responsibly and cannot support the newborn. Maybe the questions is, “do we really value life?”
Peace,
Beck
the only problem in this case, is that the number of immigrants in the country are increased in number all the years, with this many place in where these people work have to give them a life insurance.
I am still in a quiet rage about how our government did not feel it was necessary to negotiate a total drug plan for our seniors. Watching an older person who is alone try and negotiate the current system is so very sad.
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