Health and Healing in America

For Unit 3, we make a giant leap in time forward to the present, to consider the ongoing, currently-unfolding political drama about health care policy (and yes, I promise you: it is a drama).

Wed, April 3: Health Care Policy before 2008. Begin by reading the Stevens article in the course reader, “History and Health Care Policy in the United States: The Making of a Health Care Industry, 1948-2008.” I STRONGLY recommend that you make a timeline in your own notes, to sort out the chronology and the important legislative milestones. Also, please read Christy Ford Chapin’s article for The Conversation, “Why Insurance Companies Control Your Medical Care” (online link). You can ignore the Burnham chapters as listed in the syllabus, we won’t be using those after all.

Mon, April 8: Field Guide to the Policy Landscape. Reading: Reagan’s 1961 “Operation Coffeecup” transcript, in the course reader. This was distributed by the American Medical Association as a vinyl record for people to listen to in home meetings (like Tupperware parties, but for fearmongering anti-Communist health care policy. Ah, the ’60s), so if you want to listen to Reagan’s velvet voice delivering it, you can find it on YouTube and follow along.

Links to explore on Monday during class –
Wikipedia –> Healthcare Reform in the United States
US History in Context –> Health Care Reform
BallotPedia –> History of Health Care Policy in the United States
American Medical Association –> Vision for Health Care Reform
Kaiser Family Foundations –> History of Health Reform in the US
New York Times –> Health Care Reform topic search
JAMA –> US Health Care Reform Progress to Date and Next Steps (B. Obama, 2016)
Pew Research –> Health Care
ProCon.org –> Obamacare or Right to Health Care
Commonwealth Fund –> Health Care System Performance Rankings

Wed, April 10: Film Day: Sicko (2007). No reading; Disease Project Paper due by classtime. Upload to Blackboard under “Assignments” portal.