THE ARTICULATION OF VALUES AND PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN HEALTH-CARE REFORM

The Ethics Working Group of Clinton's Health Care Task Force developed a list of principles and values that should govern health care reform . These principles and values are compatible with central moral and po litical traditions, as well as with more rigorous theoretical accounts of justice and health care, but they are ''freestanding'' points of a greement, not presupposing any particular theoretical background. Thou gh imprecise and not ranked by priorities, the principles guide thinki ng about the fairness of alternative reform proposals. Their use is il lustrated by comparing alternatives on universality of access, phase-i n period, the creation of unequal tiers, and the provision for wise al location and rationing.