We offer a framework for identifying disparities in the distribution of healthcare opportunities. In line with the Rawlsian tradition of fair equality of opportunity, we argue that these have to be primarily defined in terms of access to a (bundle of) health services of appropriate quality. Our approach allows to disentangle the opportunities individuals enjoy—assessed by jointly considering chances of access and disparities in access conditions—from the mere utilization of health services while preserving normative consistency with the principle of equal (access to) health care for those in equal need of health care. A simple exercise based on real data shows that the definition we provide can be easily applied to gather policy-relevant insights.

Equality of opportunity in health care: access and equal access revisited / Beraldo, Sergio; Stroffolini, Francesca; Abatemarco, Antonio. - In: INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF ECONOMICS. - ISSN 1863-4613. - 67:1(2020), pp. 13-29. [10.1007/s12232-019-00342-9]

Equality of opportunity in health care: access and equal access revisited

Sergio Beraldo
;
Francesca Stroffolini;Antonio Abatemarco
2020

Abstract

We offer a framework for identifying disparities in the distribution of healthcare opportunities. In line with the Rawlsian tradition of fair equality of opportunity, we argue that these have to be primarily defined in terms of access to a (bundle of) health services of appropriate quality. Our approach allows to disentangle the opportunities individuals enjoy—assessed by jointly considering chances of access and disparities in access conditions—from the mere utilization of health services while preserving normative consistency with the principle of equal (access to) health care for those in equal need of health care. A simple exercise based on real data shows that the definition we provide can be easily applied to gather policy-relevant insights.
2020
Equality of opportunity in health care: access and equal access revisited / Beraldo, Sergio; Stroffolini, Francesca; Abatemarco, Antonio. - In: INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF ECONOMICS. - ISSN 1863-4613. - 67:1(2020), pp. 13-29. [10.1007/s12232-019-00342-9]
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Ab_Ber_Stroff_IREC.pdf

solo utenti autorizzati

Descrizione: Articolo principale
Tipologia: Documento in Pre-print
Licenza: Accesso privato/ristretto
Dimensione 1.05 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.05 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11588/781403
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 10
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact