For example, we cannot guarantee free in vitro fertilization treatment to everyone who wants it. But given that approximately 1 in 7 Americans cannot access health care at all, it seems that we are presently not at all at risk of making inappropriate demands on social resources. Currently, we do not even guarantee vaccinations, prenatal care and many other basic, cost-effective treatments to all. One place to start would be to mandate employer-based insurance. Because the high cost of health care has made the provision of insurance prohibitive for some employers, a trade-off is a necessary.
Employers can manage to insure more people if fewer services are covered.
Similarly, the number of people covered by Medicaid must increase. This too may necessitate that some services be cut. These two changes constitute an important step in reducing the number of people like Meg who cannot access health care at all. Eventually, however, without a comprehensive, unified health care system which guarantees at least a bare minimum level care to all, we will never break out of the trend of increasing numbers of uninsured people and increasing costs of health care. Oxford University Press, 1994.