The same principle is involved when National Health Insurance covers the provision of "orphan drugs" that benefit only a small number of patients. Society spends large amounts of medical resources on them. It may seem that this use of resources is unfair, but there is a side benefit: "Research into rare childhood diseases stimulates medical progress."
近年因各種「孤兒藥」健保給付問題而引發關注的罕見疾病患者，與早產兒的處境類似，社會為他們耗費龐大的醫療資源，看似資源配置不公平，但卻有另外的效用，「罕病兒的研究，刺激了醫學的進步與發展。」