title: Medical Need, Equality, and Uncertainty.
abstract: Many hold that distributing healthcare according to medical need is a requirement of equality. Most egalitarians believe, however, that people ought to be equal on the whole, by some overall measure of well-being or life-prospects; it would be a massive coincidence if distributing healthcare according to medical need turned out to be an effective way of promoting equality overall. I argue that distributing healthcare according to medical need is important for reducing individuals' uncertainty surrounding their future medical needs. In other words, distributing healthcare according to medical need is a natural feature of healthcare insurance; it is about indemnity, not equality.
authors.affiliation: l.chad.horne@gmail.com.
authors.forename: L Chad
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Horne
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000941:ethics*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000941:ethics*; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000941:ethics; D006801:Humans; D035501:Uncertainty
keywords: distributive justice; equality; health insurance; healthcare; medical necessity; medical need; political philosophy