Market Justice

568 Words2 Pages

The principle of market justice proposes that market forces in a free economy can best achieve a fair distribution of health care. Within such a system, medical care and its benefits are distributed on a basis of people’s willingness to pay. (Shi & Singh) In other words, consumers are allowed the choice of purchasing items that are of value to them. These valued goods and/or services are purchased with the consumer’s personal funds. The free market implies that giving people something they have not earned would be morally and economically wrong. The principle of market justice is based on the following key assumptions: 1. Health care is like any other economic good or service and, therefore, can be governed by the free market forces of supply …show more content…

A free market, rather than the government, can allocate health care resources in the most efficient and equitable manner. (Shi & Singh) Under market justice, the production of health care is determined by how much consumers are willing and able to purchase services at the current market prices. Market justice also provides an emphasis on individuals and proposes private solutions to the social problems of health. In the market justice, the individual is responsible for their health and benefits are based on individual purchasing power. The idea of social justice is at odds with the principles of capitalism and market justice. According to the principle of social justice, the reasonable delivery of health care is a societal responsibility. This goal can best be achieved by letting a central agency- generally the government- take over the production and distribution functions. Social justice in turn regards health as a social good- as opposed to an economic good- that should be collectively funded and available to all citizens regardless of the individual’s ability to pay. (Shi & Singh) Under the social justice system, the inability to obtain medical services due to a lack of financial resources are considered unjust. The principle of social justice is based on the following

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