Here's the problem. We have managed care, down to where there is no excess capacity in the system. New York only has enough ventilators to handle a 17% (15%/85%) increase over normal. Certainly not a pandemic.
I think the rationing plan is necessary. But the public would be better served by a plan to obtain and store excess ventilators and/or a plan to ramp production of ventilators. I see a new respiratory ventilator on Froogle for $2000.
Solution 1:Buy another 5000 machines for a cost of $10,000,000 and put them in storage. Then you would at least have a reasonable hedge.
Solution 2: For a cost of 17,000*$2,000= $34,000,000 you'd have all 18,000 machines available. It's probably not reasonable given the probable availability of vaccines.
Solution 3: Work with the manufacturer to develop plans for rapid ramping of production of the machines and/or possible cheaper stop-gap models.
The cost is probably neglible compared the lost taxes if those people die.
Doesn't it seem silly for us to argue this after our government has just spent hundreds of billions of dollars on nothing that will benefit the American people? Think of all the good that money could have done, although I was against stealing it from us in the first place.