From a distance, thinkers will see an unsustainable pattern. Yet faced with the prospect of immediate extinction, these old people and their loved ones will demand the therapies.
I don’t see how this particular issue is different from the standard problem of “fair” allocation of limited resources most people, organizations, companies and governments grapple with every day.
I’m sympathetic to the idea that basic, proven health care (80% of the benefit for 20% of the cost) should be free to all, and that more expensive, less effective health care should be available to people rich enough to buy it. But this is highly problematic politically. If your society supports “(top of the line) health care is a right, not a privilege”, then standard models of resource allocation are problematic. Political leaders might give in to the demands, at the cost of health care spending rising to (say) 50% of GDP. We could lose our economic competitiveness in a catastrophic way.
This is an ongoing discussion in every Western country, actually. Privileges tend to become rights when the society can afford giving them to everyone.
I don’t see how this particular issue is different from the standard problem of “fair” allocation of limited resources most people, organizations, companies and governments grapple with every day.
I’m sympathetic to the idea that basic, proven health care (80% of the benefit for 20% of the cost) should be free to all, and that more expensive, less effective health care should be available to people rich enough to buy it. But this is highly problematic politically. If your society supports “(top of the line) health care is a right, not a privilege”, then standard models of resource allocation are problematic. Political leaders might give in to the demands, at the cost of health care spending rising to (say) 50% of GDP. We could lose our economic competitiveness in a catastrophic way.
This is an ongoing discussion in every Western country, actually. Privileges tend to become rights when the society can afford giving them to everyone.