Early in this decade, a President’s Commission in the U.S. made a plea for universal access only to an “adequate level” of health care, and did so in terms of community responsibility rather than individual rights. In this perspective, the community, whether local or national, without a health care system that provides some version of equal access for all community members, is morally deficient. The community-based moral obligation focuses attention precisely on community members who are marginalized and whose health care needs are not attended to2 . “Common good” rather than individual rights becomes the foundation of equity and the basis for a community obligation. Common good incorporates the value of equity. Even if the common good concept does not immediately produce equal access to adequate health care for all, at least it makes possible steps in that direction.