Free Health Dissertations - At The Other End Of The Regulatory Spectrum, In Response To The Monopoly
At the other end of the regulatory spectrum, in response to the monopoly problem and the high costs of regulation, a government may choose to nationalize (i.e. own and operate) the hospitals themselves. In the UK and New Zealand government finances, owns, and operates the majority of hospitals, and not just those that would, in the absence of government intervention, hold a monopoly position.
Health certainly has the characteristics of one of Rawls’ primary goods (although, interestingly, not so characterized by Rawls), being something that a rational person would want irrespective of what else she would want, all other things being equal (Rawls, 1971). Treatment of disease can stop, prevent, or ameliorate physical deterioration, pain, and premature death. Health is of overriding importance to most of us as without good health our ability to participate in and social life is severely limited. Daniels grounds a right to health care services in the idea of fair opportunity: properties distributed by the lottery of social and biological life are not grounds for morally acceptable discrimination if they are not the sorts of properties that people have a fair chance to acquire or overcome (Daniels, 1985). Health is fundamental to our feelings of well being, security, comfort, and ultimately happiness. We care very deeply not only about our own good health but that of our family and friends and to a lesser but still significant extent of the health of others in our community. We also know that as we grow older ultimately our health must deteriorate and this can either be very quickly, for example, in the case of a fatal heart attack, or a slow deterioration, through cancer or a chronic disease. Generally, we do not know what our own life-path holds in store for us in terms of illnesses, disabilities, and the way that we will die. This uncertainty characterizes each and every one of our lives. The high cost of many health care interventions coupled with the uncertainty of what our health care needs will be makes it difficult to save funds to pay for services when they are needed.
One must, however, not mistakenly assume that access to health care services will ensure a fair allocation of health. The endless utilization of health care services will not necessarily result in better health. Other determinants of health besides access to health care services include biological factors, physical environment, lifestyle, and social environment (Ruwaard, Kramers, Jeths & Achterberg, 1994). Access to social welfare services, education, and socioeconomic status may have as great an impact (although more indirect and long term) on health as the consumption of health care services (Vagero, 1994).
