Current healthcare system is immoral, bioethicists say

If healthcare reform truly involved “death panels,” would bioethicists support it?

Of course not. And they are making their case that it’s the current healthcare system – not any of the proposed changes – that fails to meet ethical standards.

Here’s how the Assn. of Bioethics Program Directors sums up its position:

The current state of health care is unethical. It is neither just nor fair. There is no morally defensible reason why some Americans get excellent medical care at costs they can afford and other Americans lose their homes or go into bankruptcy attempting to secure treatment for a seriously ill loved one. The current proposals being debated in Congress all go a long way towards making health care in America more just. At the same time, there is nothing in the current proposals that threatens a patient’s right to choose, a critical feature of an ethically acceptable health care system.

On their website, the bioethicists refute three widely circulating “myths” that proposed changes to the healthcare system would bring about unethical results. The most egregious of these myths is that the government would curtail medical spending by allowing bureaucrats to decide which patients are too sick to save.

For more on the ethics of healthcare reform, check out this conversation with ABPD President-elect David Magnus.

“It’s very, very frustrating for all of us … to see all these misleading things being said that actually hamper our ability to be able to do a better job of helping patients at the end of life,” said Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics.

-- Karen Kaplan

Photo: Bioethicists say Sarah Palin has no idea what she’s talking about when she mentions proposed government “death panels.” No such proposal exists. Photo credit: Al Grillo/Associated Press

Comments

[Alison Kudlow]

I agree that the current health insurance system is unethical! It is currently legal in most states (including California!) to charge women up to 39% more for health insurance simply because they are women. Furthermore, some private insurance doesn't even cover basic health needs of women such as contraception (birth control pills), pap smears, STD testing, cervical cancer screenings, etc. This is unjust and discriminatory. 75% of the coverage women need is for their reproductive health. Denying us that is denying us our most basic care. Health insurance reform must allow all Americans, regardless of gender, to receive affordable comprehensive health care.

[Jessica Etting]

The bioethicists have hit the nail on the head in recognizing the inequity that permeates today’s health insurance system. In the future, I hope they will also address the little-talked-about gender discrimination that takes place in this arena, as well. Women of childbearing age spend 68% more in out-of-pocket health care costs than men, mostly because of reproductive health-related needs, such as breast and cervical cancer screenings, annual exams and contraception. These services are critical not just for women, but for their entire families. Any new health-insurance reform should seek to bridge the gap of inequality across the board, and include access to reproductive health care.