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Unmanaged Care: Towards Moral Fairness In Health Care Coverage, Sharona Hoffman

Indiana Law Journal

Health insurers are generally guided by the principle of "actuarial fairness," according to which they distinguish among various risks on the basis of costrelated factors. Thus, insurers often limit or deny coverage for vision care, hearing aids, mental health care, and even AIDS treatment based on actuarial justifications. Furthermore, approximately forty-two million Americans have no health insurance at all, because most of these individuals cannot afford the cost of insurance. This Article argues that Americans have come to demand more than actuarial fairness from health insurers and are increasingly concerned about what I call "moral fairness." This is evidenced by …