Abstract

The article begins by clarifying the terms that are related above all to rationing itself and its most important forms: market and non-market economic rationing and non-economic rationing.Subsequent parts of the article deal with open non-market economic rationing; I argue that such rationing is necessary due to the irreducible divergence between supply and demand for health services. Moreover, I attempt to show that rationing is morally desirable and just, and that the decision to implement it requires social consensus. I maintain that a one-level system of health services is morally superior to mixed, multi-level models.