The Hybridized Nature of America’s Health Care System

Author(s):  
Monica Gaughan

The theoretical perspective of Bozeman’s publicness work is used to frame a two-part case study of the health insurance system in the United States. It begins with a historical overview of the incremental changes to the system over the past 70 years, illustrating how competing economic and political authorities have combined to create a uniquely expensive and poorly performing system. The empirical lens then focuses on one component of the US system, the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled. It shows how a fully public system has become increasingly privatized through a series of policy reforms starting in the 1990s. This analysis is timely in light of the recent Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the continuing efforts of the US Congress to limit the growth of entitlements such as Medicare.

Author(s):  
Monica Gaughan

The theoretical perspective of Bozeman’s publicness work is used to frame a two-part case study of the health insurance system in the United States. It begins with a historical overview of the incremental changes to the system over the past 70 years, illustrating how competing economic and political authorities have combined to create a uniquely expensive and poorly performing system. The empirical lens then focuses on one component of the US system, the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled. It shows how a fully public system has become increasingly privatized through a series of policy reforms starting in the 1990s. This analysis is timely in light of the recent Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the continuing efforts of the US Congress to limit the growth of entitlements such as Medicare.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 235-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zlatko Šabič

This article analyses the history and practice of the involvement of the us Congress in inter-parliamentary cooperation and diplomacy, with a specific case study of its members’ involvement in the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (nato pa), as a leading international parliamentary institution (ipi) in the field of international security. It argues that while members of Congress have participated in the activities of ipis in the past, they mostly focus on domestic affairs and are therefore less keen on engaging with ipis. Nevertheless, they do keep in close touch with transatlantic ipis. This is in line with us foreign policy, which places transatlantic relations at the top of the United States’ strategic interests. The article focuses on Congressional participation in the work of the nato pa before and during nato’s enlargement. It shows that Congress and its members can help the nato pa to play a visible role in transatlantic affairs.


1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-91
Author(s):  
John E. Owens

Two important themes in the literature on the United States Congress are that members experience difficulty transacting complex technical legislation – because most are not experts – and that they make their decisions on the basis of what will help them win re-election, by following the economic preferences of their interest group or electoral constituencies. The few writers who have examined congressional decisionmaking on financial institutions regulatory policy have generally accepted the conventional re-election premise and argued that legislators follow the economic preferences of their interest group of electoral constituencies. Using a case study of how members of a House committee make decisions on complex financial institutions regulatory policy, the article offers an alternative political explanation which takes better account of the complexity of congressional decisionmaking and the specific nature of the policy issues which are decided. Through a close analysis of internal committee politics, the research demonstrates the crucial roles played by subject specialists and the importance of party-mediated cue-passing.


2012 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Ashley Flint

Health care spending in the United States has increased rapidly over the past several decades. Medicare, the largest public health insurance program in the US, is a key component of these growing costs. While Medicare financing is expected to be stable over the next decade, the long-term solvency will be difficult to sustain absent congressional action. This paper analyzes three policy options for Congress to consider in addressing the problem of rapid cost growth in the Medicare program.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo

By identifying two general issues in recent history textbook controversies worldwide (oblivion and inclusion), this article examines understandings of the United States in Mexico's history textbooks (especially those of 1992) as a means to test the limits of historical imagining between U. S. and Mexican historiographies. Drawing lessons from recent European and Indian historiographical debates, the article argues that many of the historical clashes between the nationalist historiographies of Mexico and the United States could be taught as series of unsolved enigmas, ironies, and contradictions in the midst of a central enigma: the persistence of two nationalist historiographies incapable of contemplating their common ground. The article maintains that lo mexicano has been a constant part of the past and present of the US, and lo gringo an intrinsic component of Mexico's history. The di erences in their historical tracks have been made into monumental ontological oppositions, which are in fact two tracks—often overlapping—of the same and shared con ictual and complex experience.


Author(s):  
Halyna Shchyhelska

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Ukrainian independence. OnJanuary 22, 1918, the Ukrainian People’s Republic proclaimed its independence by adopting the IV Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada, although this significant event was «wiped out» from the public consciousness on the territory of Ukraine during the years of the Soviet totalitarian regime. At the same time, January 22 was a crucial event for the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA. This article examines how American Ukrainians interacted with the USA Government institutions regarding the celebration and recognition of the Ukrainian Independence day on January 22. The attention is focused on the activities of ethnic Ukrainians in the United States, directed at the organization of the special celebration of the Ukrainian Independence anniversaries in the US Congress and cities. Drawing from the diaspora press and Congressional Records, this article argues that many members of Congress participated in the observed celebration and expressed kind feelings to the Ukrainian people, recognised their fight for freedom, during the House of Representatives and Senate sessions. Several Congressmen submitted the resolutions in the US Congress urging the President of United States to designate January 22 as «Ukrainian lndependence Day». January 22 was proclaimed Ukrainian Day by the governors of fifteen States and mayors of many cities. Keywords: January 22, Ukrainian independence day, Ukrainian diaspora, USA, interaction, Congress


Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Bennett

Cannabis (marijuana) is the most commonly consumed, universally produced, and frequently trafficked psychoactive substance prohibited under international drug control laws. Yet, several countries have recently moved toward legalization. In these places, the legal status of cannabis is complex, especially because illegal markets persist. This chapter explores the ways in which a sector’s legal status interacts with political consumerism. The analysis draws on a case study of political consumerism in the US and Canadian cannabis markets over the past two decades as both countries moved toward legalization. It finds that the goals, tactics, and leadership of political consumerism activities changed as the sector’s legal status shifted. Thus prohibition, semilegalization, and new legality may present special challenges to political consumerism, such as silencing producers, confusing consumers, deterring social movements, and discouraging discourse about ethical issues. The chapter concludes that political consumerism and legal status may have deep import for one another.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Ioana Gherghescu ◽  
M. Begoña Delgado-Charro

Biosimilar medicines expand the biotherapeutic market and improve patient access. This work looked into the landscape of the European and US biosimilar products, their regulatory authorization, market availability, and clinical evaluation undergone prior to the regulatory approval. European Medicines Agency (EMEA, currently EMA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) repositories were searched to identify all biosimilar medicines approved before December 2019. Adalimumab biosimilars, and particularly their clinical evaluations, were used as a case study. In the past 13 years, the EMA has received 65 marketing authorization applications for biosimilar medicines with 55 approved biosimilars available in the EU market. Since the first biosimilar approval in 2015, the FDA has granted 26 approvals for biosimilars with only 11 being currently on the US market. Five adalimumab biosimilars have been approved in the EU and commercialized as eight different medicines through duplicate marketing authorizations. Whilst three of these are FDA-approved, the first adalimumab biosimilar will not be marketed in the US until 2023 due to Humira’s exclusivity period. The EU biosimilar market has developed faster than its US counterpart, as the latter is probably challenged by a series of patents and exclusivity periods protecting the bio-originator medicines, an issue addressed by the US’s latest ‘Biosimilar Action Plan’.


Author(s):  
Alexander Kolpakov ◽  
Austin Marie Sipiora ◽  
Caley Johnson ◽  
Erin Nobler

This case study presents findings from an analysis of the emergency preparation and response for Hurricane Irma, the most recent hurricane impacting the Tampa Bay region. The Tampa Bay region, in particular, is considered one of the most vulnerable areas in the United States to hurricanes and severe tropical weather. A particular vulnerability stems from how all petroleum fuel comes to the area by marine transport through Port Tampa Bay, which can be (and has been in the past) impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms. The case study discussed in this paper covers previous fuel challenges, vulnerabilities, and lessons learned by key Tampa Bay public agency fleets during the past 10 years (mainly as a result of the most recent 2017 Hurricane Irma) to explore ways to improve the area’s resilience to natural disasters. Some of the strategies for fuel-supply resiliency include maintaining emergency fuel supply, prioritizing fuel use, strategically placing the assets around the region to help with recovery, investing in backup generators (including generators powered by alternative fuels), planning for redundancies in fuel supply networks, developing more efficient communication procedures between public fleets, hurricane preparedness-planning, and upgrading street drainage systems to reduce the threat of local flooding.


Circulation ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianjianyi Sun ◽  
Tao Zhou ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
Yoriko Heianza ◽  
Xiaoyun Shang ◽  
...  

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the number one cause of death and disability in the US and globally for decades, and its comorbidity complicates the management of CVD. However, little is known about the secular trend of CVD comorbidities in national representative populations in the last 20 years. Methods: Prevalence of CVD and nine major chronic comorbidities was estimated using data from 1,324,214 adults aged 18 years and older in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 1997 through 2016, with age-standardized to the U.S. population in the year 2000. Results: CVD prevalence in the US adult population significantly declined in the past twenty years (from 6.6% in 1997 to 5.9% in 2016, P trend <0.01in Figure a). And such trend was shown in women and whites (P trend <0.01), but not in men and blacks (P trend >0.05). We ranked the nine major chronic comorbidities (high to low) in the CVD patients (Figure b.), including (1) hypertension, (2) respiratory conditions, (3) nervous system conditions, (4) digestive conditions, (5) diabetes, (6) cancer, (7) genitourinary conditions, (8) circulatory conditions, and (9) endocrine/nutritional/metabolic conditions. From 1997 to 2016, the prevalence of CVD comorbidities including hypertension (38.8% to 50.2%), digestive conditions (17.0% to 27.1%), diabetes (10.0% to 19.2%), cancer (9.4% to 12.8%), and genitourinary conditions (4.1% to 5.2%) continuingly increased (all P trend <0.01), while respiratory conditions declined (35.9% to 27.6%, P trend <0.01). Similar trends of CVD comorbidities were observed among subgroups stratified by gender or by race. Conclusions: CVD prevalence in the U.S. adults have declined significantly in the past two decades, but rates of CVD comorbidities including hypertension, digestive conditions, diabetes, cancer, and genitourinary conditions increased substantially.


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