ABSTRACT
This chapter describes many definitions of equity in the health care sector, even when only horizontal equity. It presents many other equity issues, such as the financing of health care, the financing of other expenditures that influence health and medical care, the organization of health care, and incentives for immigration. School systems might modify curricula so that the knowledge of school-age children and perhaps their parents on such issues as the costs of tobacco might be emphasized, and the public sector might work with the media on a campaign to influence consumption behavior. Social insurance could equalize the net price of a unit of medical care across all individuals. Social insurance could influence such behavior by attempting to change the prices of certain “merit goods”, such as subsidizing foods viewed as healthy and/or subsidizing the price of exercise activities.
