The thing is - money buys health. The poor are always going to have more limited resources, by definition. The interesting question (to me at least) is how, an

The thing is - money buys health. The poor are always going to have more limited resources, by definition. The interesting question (to me at least) is how, and how much, do we optimize our redistribution to help less well-off folks? I think you need to take a whole-system approach here. A dollar spent improving air quality next to this power plant might be a great investment, or it might be way down the list vs. say funding universal healthcare, which would help with other (potentially more serious) health issues too. QUALYs are a good tool for assessing the impact of a dollar of spend as it pertains to heath outcomes, but they are not the only lens. But until you have unlimited dollars, you need some framework for allocating them (after first deciding how much redistribution should be done in the first place). In general, I think more choices are better than fewer, so having the choice to in a cheaper but more noisy neighborhood is probably better than being priced out entirely and having to move to rural CA where you can afford rent. (At least, revealed preferences show that most residents think that it’s the preferable option).