this article discusses what ethicists have called “unacceptable trade-offs” in health policy choices related to universal health coverage (uhc). since the fiscal space is constrained, trade-offs need to be made. but some trade-offs are unacceptable on the path to universal coverage. unacceptable choices include, among other examples from low-income countries, to expand coverage for services wit...

Introduction Thirty years ago, the rationing of healthcare was invisible and silent. Recently, however, healthcare expenditures have become a major focus of public policy. As we look for ways to control spending, we become more aware of the economic trade-offs involved in every healthcare decision. Allocating resources to one service means less left for other services; allocating resources to o...

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of rationing in medical education. Medical education is expensive and there is a limit to that which governments, funders or individuals can spend on it. Rationing involves the allocation of resources that are limited. This paper discussed the pros and cons of the application of rationing to medical education and the different forms of rationing ...

Physicians are often asked to be "gatekeepers," determining their patients' access to medical therapies and technologies. At the same time, most physicians have been taught that they should act as patient advocates, pursuing patients' best interests regardless of cost. This paper reviews moral arguments ethicists have made for and against "bedside rationing." It argues that healthcare rationing...

background priority setting in healthcare is a key determinant of health system performance. however, there is no widely accepted priority setting evaluation framework. we reviewed literature with the aim of developing and proposing a framework for the evaluation of macro and meso level healthcare priority setting practices.   methods we systematically searched econlit, pubmed, cinahl, and ebsc...

Perceptions of inequity and excess have given rise to a debate over whether policymakers should consider some form of rationing as a means of achieving a more just healthcare system. Three factors will be critical in determining whether the policies ultimately developed will be just and equitable. First, participants must grasp relevant facts involving the current distribution of healthcare ser...

Healthcare rationing means the equitable distribution of limited healthcare resources. The means of distribution and the manner in which these choices are made varies depending on each person's perspective. Rationing already occurs in the United States in areas such as organ transplantation.

As healthcare expenditures have continued to grow in the United States and elsewhere, the demand for cost-cutting measures has increased. This has led many to wonder if we are, in fact, rationing health care. Critical care is characterized by very high expenditures on a relatively few number of patients, many of whom do not survive, and it is therefore a likely place where rationing could occur...