Insurance Discrimination the Number of People Who Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 604 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 2

Insurance Discrimination

The number of people who need a liver transplant is currently far greater than the number of donor livers available. Unfortunately, this can lead to discrimination by insurance companies against alcoholics who they believe have caused their own ill health and are, therefore, less deserving of the liver than other individuals. However, medical principles should guide treatment procedures not prejudice. Alcoholics should have the same access to health care as anyone else.

The discrimination against alcoholics occurs because insurance companies fail to recognize the disease nature of addiction. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, "Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations."

This definition recognizes alcoholism as a disease, i.e., as an involuntary disability and accepts a genetic vulnerability in some people. Thus, to discriminate against alcoholics because of the belief that they have some sort of moral defect defies medically accepted evidence that suggests otherwise.

Stuck Writing Your "Insurance Discrimination the Number of People Who" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Insurance Discrimination the Number of People Who Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

Ignorance always seems to the largest driver of prejudice.

Insurance companies also mistakenly believe that alcoholics will be less likely to benefit from a liver transplant than other patients. However, researchers have proved that discrimination against alcoholics in liver transplant programs is unjustified. They have found no major differences in survival or organ rejection rates between liver transplants of cirrhosis patients and those with other liver diseases. Thus, liver transplantation is just as justified for alcoholic cirrhosis as it is for other factors leading to liver damage.

The denial of a liver transplant to an alcoholic represents an undesired shift from humanitarian ethics to utilitarian ethics. Humanitarian ethics state that the well being of the individual is central. Today, insurance companies are asking doctors and patients to accept a new utilitarian ethic where the….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Insurance Discrimination The Number Of People Who" (2003, December 09) Retrieved June 6, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/insurance-discrimination-number-people-160869

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Insurance Discrimination The Number Of People Who" 09 December 2003. Web.6 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/insurance-discrimination-number-people-160869>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Insurance Discrimination The Number Of People Who", 09 December 2003, Accessed.6 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/insurance-discrimination-number-people-160869
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example