Which statement best describes distributive justice and social justice?

• A. Distributive justice focuses on fair distribution of resources; social justice concerns equitable access to care.
• B. Distributive justice concerns education; social justice concerns resource allocation.
• C. Distributive justice is unrelated to healthcare; social justice covers only social policies.
• D. Distributive justice prioritizes efficiency; social justice prioritizes cost containment.

Answer: (A)

In healthcare ethics, distributive justice asks how to fairly distribute scarce resources, such as money, medications, or services, taking into account needs, effectiveness, and equity. Social justice broadens this to ensuring fair treatment and opportunities within society, including healthcare, by addressing social determinants and structural factors that lead to health inequities so that everyone has equitable access to care.

That's why the statement pairing fair distribution of resources with equitable access to care best captures both ideas. The other options misplace the focus—education versus resource allocation, claim healthcare is irrelevant to distributive justice, or swap priorities toward efficiency or cost containment—and do not reflect how these concepts are understood in healthcare contexts.