Health and Healing in America

During this unit, we’ll work at understanding our tremendously complex American health care system: its origins, current reform efforts, issues for debate, consequences, and possible future.

Wed 4/17 – View Michael Moore’s film Sicko. Response Paper #3 due.

Mon 4/22 – How Did We Get Here? Reading: Stevens, “History and Health Policy in the US” (PDF on Blackboard)

In-class link: “Why is American Health Care So Ridiculously Expensive?” (The Atlantic 3/27/13)

Wed 4/24 – Costs: Economic, Social and Ethical. Reading and Listening: Farmer, “Pathologies of Power” (PDF on Blackboard) and LISTEN to and take notes on this October 2009 hour-long episode of the NPR program This American Life

Links we watched in class:
MRI Costs (Washington Post WonkTalk, March 2013)
Health Care System Overview (Khan Academy)
Journalist Steven Brill talks about his Time cover story on Medical Bills (March 2013)

Mon 4/29 – Health Care Reform, Law & Policy. Start by browsing this site: Healthcare.gov

Then read these:
Health Care Reform – Top 10 Pros/Cons on Procon.org
“The Case for Universal Health Care in the United States,” AMSA (American Medical Student Association), 2008
Robert A. Levy, “The Case Against President Obama’s Health Care Reform: A Primer for Nonlawyers,” Cato Institute White Paper, 2011 (12-page downloadable PDF)
“Fighting to Control the Word ‘Obamacare'” NYT 25 March 2012
“The ABCs of the Health Care Law and its Future,” NYT 2 April 2012

Note: there quite a number of polemical websites, you might want to look at a few, keeping in mind none of these are official or scholarly sources –

Obamacarefacts.com
Obamacareprosandcons.org
therepealpledge.com
HeritageFoundation.org’s content on Obamacare
CommonHealth: Reform and Reality (WBUR.org)
NYT: Multimedia content on the Affordable Care Act and the Supreme Court

Wed 5/1 – The HC Debate in Microcosm. See the “Debate” tab at the top of the course website. Prepare for the debate by taking, and supporting with evidence, a position in the health care debate. Due in class: Your Position Paper

Mon 5/6 – Wrap Up Day and Exam Prep. We will complete the Glossary in or before class, and work on developing the format for the final together.

Mon 5/13 – Final Exam 12:30 pm. Due at the final: Your Course Reflection Paper (prompt TBA)