If countries similar to the US were already ill-prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, facing extreme shortages of personnel and supplies as a result of a rise in demand, why is the new pandemic a strong reason for talking about personal responsibility in healthcare? The health system’s ability to respond adequately during any pandemic will often be directly linked to the seriousness of the epidemic, which defines the demand for health care services. There will be no genuine population health improvement until individuals are empowered to take personal responsibility in healthcare.

True population health improvement will not occur until individuals are empowered to take responsibility for their own health. Despite the individual’s obvious position in deciding their health status, efforts to improve health care in the US have centered largely on changing reimbursements from physicians and hospitals to increase their incentives to provide the “right care. Although this is a step in the right direction, real population health improvement will not occur until individuals are empowered to take responsibility for their own health and adopt healthier habits, and we can now contribute to this pandemic resilience. It will only help to undermine these incentives to switch to a public health system when everyone becomes eligible for treatment paid for by the group.

Healthcare is not, however, immune to the topic of scarcity. National healthcare systems will have to find new and innovative ways to ration personality responsibility in healthcare and monitor demand as people get sicker; the reach of healthcare will have to extend into healthy habits, and a government monopoly on healthcare will thus entail its interference in its citizens’ daily lifestyle choices. At the beginning of this piece, the very real concerns raised by the doctor, being placed in a position to decide who gets care as a result of COVID-19, could become the “new normal” under national healthcare structures that create public responsibility for the consequences of individual acts. When today’s health status relies too much on individual lifestyle decisions, such a scheme offers nothing more than moral and financial bankruptcy.