SOC 203 Week 4 Discussion 1

Week 4 - Discussion

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

A Multi-National   Analysis of Healthcare Strategies

Access to quality healthcare is a major social issue in the United States and around the world.  In fact, healthcare reform and access to affordable health insurance is a hotly debated political issue.  Many advocates of healthcare reform point to the high level of spending on healthcare in the United Sates and the relatively poor health outcomes in the U.S. as compared to other countries.  In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed, and was later upheld by the Supreme Court. While this controversial policy greatly decreased the number of U.S. citizens without health insurance, the United States still stands more or less alone among wealthy industrialized democracies in this approach to healthcare.  For this discussion, you will take an in-depth look at access to healthcare as a social problem by comparing the U.S. healthcare system to another country of your choice.  
 

For this discussion review each of the following resources:

• Poor and      Uninsured  (Links to an external site.)
• Key Facts about the      Uninsured  (Links to an external site.)
• Mirror, Mirror on      the Wall: How the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System Compares      Internationally  (Links to an external site.)
• Here’s a Map of the      Countries that Provide Universal Health Care  (Links to an      external site.)
• Recommended: U.S. Health Care      from a Global Perspective: Spending, Use of Services, Prices, and Health      in 13 Countries (Links to an external site.) 

Based on these resources, please address each of the following:

• In general, who comprises the      uninsured population in the United States?  Since the passage of the      2010 Affordable Care Act, what are the most common reasons that people      still lack health insurance?  
• Describe how healthcare      spending in the U.S. compares to other countries.  Describe how      healthcare outcomes in the U.S. compare to other countries.  Based on      the resources you reviewed, are healthcare spending and health outcomes      related to one another?  In other words, does spending more on health      care lead to better health outcomes (i.e. a healthier population) and vice      versa?
• What is universal health care?       Describe the healthcare system in at least one country that      guarantees universal health coverage to all of its citizens (you can find      a list of such countries in the resources provided). 
• How does a universal health      care system compare to the system currently in place in the U.S.?  In      your informed opinion, why is the U.S. one of the only wealthy      industrialized democracies that does not have university healthcare      coverage?
• According to the Commonwealth      Fund reports, how is the performance of the United States’ healthcare      system related to equity?  Which social groups have the least access      to quality healthcare?  Why?

 Your initial post should be at least 500 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Focus on example of bias. How can we know who to trust?