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.