Introduction

Abstract

The first three articles in this section deal with the issue of justifying a national policy designed to provide universal health care for all citizens and residents of the United States. The first article is by Harold Baillie and Thomas Garrett, who begin their discussion by distinguishing between health care insurance and health care plans. Insurance is a mechanism by which economic risk for medical care is spread over a group; plans, on the other hand, involve the systematic delivery of health care and can be funded by specific or general tax revenues. Although Americans have traditionally favored insurance, Baillie and Garrett contend that a certain type of national health care plan is ethically necessary, and should be adopted in the US.