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Dan Hausman’s new book, How Health Care Can Be Cost-Effective and Fair - Oxford University Press

Dan Hausman’s new book, How Health Care Can Be Cost-Effective and Fair has just been published by Oxford University Press. Central to the book is whether cost-effective allocation of healthcare violates ethical constraints. Several commentators argue that using cost-effectiveness reasoning to guide the distribution of healthcare is fundamentally unfair, not just because it does not take distribution into account, but because it fails to prioritize the severity of illness and fails to given everyone, and especially those who are disabled and those from historically underprivileged populations, a fair chance of being treated. While Hausman recognizes the complexity and shortcomings of cost-effectiveness reasoning, he maintains that it should be a leading principle in the allocation of health-related resources.