Are You Over 40 (Or Will You Be Someday)? Introducing the "Complete Lives System"

Have you heard of Ezekiel Emanuel? You should, because he is an adviser to President Obama on health care matters (click here). He is also the brother of the Presidential Chief of Staff, Raul Emanuel. He co-authored an article, Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions (click on the title to see the entire article), in which he promotes the idea of "The Complete Lives System".

The Complete Lives System for allocating medical care considers a number of factors, including age. As the table above shows, people between age 15 and 40 are favored with respect to the distribution of medical care. As the article states, "the complete lives system produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most substantial chance...". The article says that the system "prioritises younger people who have not yet lived a complete life...". It goes on to say that the "allocation treats life-years given to elderly or disabled people as objectively less valuable."

These are the people that are now directing our country's health care strategy.