Ethical Approaches to Public Policy for Health: A Focus on Principles and Working Together

Authors: Hoffman DP*

DOI: 10.23880/abca-16000277

Volume 7, Issue 4

Abstract

Given the potential for pending changes in health and healthcare in the US, I thought it wise to revisit the focus on principles and working together. We find ourselves in public health, clinical healthcare, long term services and support and wellness anticipating debate about wellness practices, resource distribution, workforce adequacy, payment systems, “pre-existing condition”, and related practices. News about an existing crisis in healthcare including labor issues, professional preparation challenges (including costs of higher education), shortages in key labor markets, long waits for urgent and emergency care, closing floors while demand for beds increases, long delays for appointments in primary and specialty care, shortages in all levels of long-term care, and shortages of supplies and medications all lead to proposed solutions for each issue. The point can be missed that these also point to some basic questions. Today I’m calling for us to refocus on all these and other issues with the lens of shared principles, specifically those commonly attributed to bioethics. Our system is full of professionals and others who have felt “called” to a career helping others and making a difference. Our policymakers who craft the rules for our systems to operate make statements when seeking these roles about assuring high quality care for everyone and focusing on policy on health and wellness, again, these require the lens of principles of bioethics to really make these differences. We have a stark comparison in those competitive nations that provide universal healthcare and do so with lower morbidity and mortality than our own system. For this Commentary I’ll be focusing on a comprehensive study of these and related issues from the Commonwealth Fund. Additionally, I’ll refer frequently to using the lens of Principles of Bioethics offered to us by Beauchamp and Childress in 2019. This Commentary is a call for a “back to basics” approach that requires dialogue (not just talking but listening) and a focus on facts and some of our primary principles.

Keywords: Public Policy; Ethics; Health; Public Health; Bioethics

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