Health & Medicine: Scare Resources In Prolonging Life

Use of Scarce Resources in Prolonging Life
Name
Institution
Use of Scarce Resources in Prolonging Life
Yes, it is fair for taxpayers to pay for care for others. This is because when taxpayers pay for healthcare insurance for everyone it equalizes provision of care for everyone. Ideally, healthcare is expensive for most people and when taxpayers get to pay for their insurance and for others, it helps in reducing these costs. Furthermore, once a taxpayers pay for care for themselves and others, it helps better the lives of many people in the society who are disadvantaged and cannot work. For example, the elderly and the disabled need the help of taxpayers to get access to healthcare. Additionally, it is the ethical thing to do because the lives of all people matter. It is not possible to say that others can take care of their own healthcare costs when ideally, we are not all financially equal (Lolgop, 2015). There are many vulnerable people in the society like the old who need the financial support of taxpayers to get the care that they need that they would otherwise not have received.
It is not fair for those who contribute to their own poor health to receive the same care as those who do not take risks. This is because people should be responsible for their own personal choices. If a person knows that smoking or excessive alcohol use is detrimental to his/her health, this person should not receive the same care as those who try to avoid such habits (O’Brien, 2015). Further, individuals with poor health choices add a burden to the healthcare system because they add to the number of patients who have to keep being treated for illnesses that can be avoided. This creates a problem because they make the healthcare system more complex and so they should not receive same care or privileges that those who make better choices do. Those who make poor health choices should be made to take responsibility of their actions by being punished such as being denied certain prescriptions until they make...