Resources have always been inadequate for food, economics, and health care, and all scarce resources are rationed in one way or another. Healthcare resources can take the form of medicines, machines, expensive treatments and organ transplants. For decades, the equitable allocation of healthcare resources has always been a subject of debate, concern and analysis, but the issue has always resisted resolution. The scarcity of health care resources and the allocation problem are permanent and inevitable (Harris, “Deciding Among Patients”). Scarcity can be defined in general, in emergencies and crises, as well as the shortage of certain types of treatments, medicines or organs. Due to scarcity of resources, some people may not be cured or die when some patients are prioritized and the intention is that everyone will be cured eventually (Harris, 2009: 335). The allocation of limited resources is an ethical issue as it is crucial to address the issue of justice and make good decisions. Ethical judgments and concerns are part of everyday choices in allocating healthcare resources and also in ensuring that those resources are allocated fairly and equitably. This article will explore how QALYs, ageism, and accountability in particular influence the allocation of healthcare resources generally through the lens of justice, fairness, social value, fairness, and merit. A quality-adjusted life year (QALY) is one of the most important measures widely used to measure quality of life and is used for the evaluation of health outcomes. Health is a function of the length and quality of life (Prieto and Sacristán, 2003) and this measure serves as a composite indicator that allows the quantity and quality of life in a single ind...... middle of paper.. .. ..ol'y 12 (1995): 147. Print.Harris, John. "Deciding between patients." A companion to bioethics, second edition (2009): 333–350. Print.Jonsen, Albert R. and Kelly A. Edwards. “Resource Allocation.” : Ethical issue in medicine. University of Washington School of Medicine, October 25, 2010. Web. March 13, 2014..Shaw, AB “In Defense of Ageism.” Journal of Medical Ethics 20.3 (1994): 188–194. Print.""Social Value" in the Allocation of Scarce Resources." THE ETHICAL QUESTION. University of Southern California, 2003. Web. March 13, 2014. hsc.usc.edu/~mbernste/ethics.soc.worth.html>. Wikler, Daniel and Sarah Marchand. “Allocation of society's resources for health.” A Companion to Bioethics, Second Edition (2009): 351-61. Blackwell Publishing. Press.