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date: 17 January 2020

Abstract and Keywords

This chapter discusses the distribution of health care, an issue that has become particularly urgent and controversial in recent years because the median age of populations in most English-speaking countries age has risen, so more people need more extensive medical care. This is happening, though, just, as medical science produces new but often expensive interventions that people come to expect, and, as a result of these factors and others, health care costs have risen dramatically. The chapter considers the Jewish principles that might guide the discussion of who gets what in medical care, and who pays for it.

Keywords: health care distribution, Jewish ethics, medical care

Aaron L. Mackler

Aaron L. Mackler is Associate Professor of Theology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he teaches in the Center for Healthcare Ethics. He currently serves as President of the Society of Jewish Ethics and as a member of hospital ethics committees in the Pittsburgh area. He received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University. He served as Staff Ethicist for the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law and taught as Visiting Assistant Professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (1991–2011), for which he served as Chair of the Subcommittee on Bioethics. He has spoken on health care ethics and theology for numerous professional societies and other audiences. Dr. Mackler’s publications include Introduction to Jewish and Catholic Bioethics: A Comparative Analysis (2003), and an edited volume, Life and Death Responsibilities in Jewish Biomedical Ethics (2000). He also has written numerous articles in the fields of Jewish theology, ethics, and bioethics.

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