Politics and Health

Health Career Collaborative

What is politics?

discuss!

Politics

• Politics is power, who makes decisions
• Government is constrained by politics
• Government policies matter

Structure of US Government

All branches can take actions to affect health!

Legislative makes and passes laws

Executive carries out laws

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Judicial determines what laws mean

Legislative Branch

• Congress divided into House and Senate
• Both needed to pass laws
• Example action: set maximum price for drugs

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Executive Branch

• President elected
• Appoints officials to government agencies
• Example action: DHHS¹ managing monkeypox vaccines

*DHHS is the Department of Health and Human Services

Judicial Branch

• Court systems
• SCOTUS highest court - president appoints judges
• Example action: Determining right to abortion

What are some ways politics and laws might impact people’s health?

discuss!

Health Care

in

Politics

Is health care a right or a privilege?

discuss!

Health Care Policy (Legislative branch)

Health Insurance ensures reasonable cost doctor visit

100 million people/year no insurance -> extreme poverty worldwide¹

Medicaid: health coverage to US low-income population

Medicare: covers elderly population

The Cost of Health Care

• 40% Americans skip doctor’s visits because of cost¹
• 45,000 Americans dead/year for lack of health insurance²

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Which does health insurance provide?

1. Financial safety net for medical emergencies
2. Hospitals’ equipment and staff salaries
3. Access to affordable medical care
4. Access to medical care for free

list all that apply!

Which does health insurance provide?

• Financial safety net for medical emergencies
• Hospitals’ equipment and staff salaries
• Access to affordable medical care
• Access to medical care for free

Health insurance allows people to access medical care at lower or capped prices. People with health insurance may still have to pay a portion or up to a deductible (average around $2000)¹.

Alternative Health Systems: Examples

England and Canada have free universal health care

All citizens get health services at no cost

England’s system called National Health Service

Canada’s system called Medicare

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Universal Health Care map¹

Which of these countries has universal health care?

1. France
2. US
3. Cuba
4. China

list all that apply!

Which of these countries has universal health care?

• France
• US
• Cuba
• China

France, Cuba, and China’s governments all provide universal health care coverage.

What are some benefits and costs of universal health care?

discuss!

Universal Health Care Costs/Benefits

Benefits

• Everyone has health care access
• Decreased stress over costs
• No deductibles - no paying before insurance
• Wealthy contribute more - funded through taxes

Costs

• Less competition
• Quality of care dependent on government funding
• Funded through taxes

US Government and Health Care

• Obamacare/Affordable Care Act
• Passed 2010
• Expanded Medicare/Medicaid
• ~20 million gained coverage¹
• Illegal to discriminate based on preexisting conditions

Pre-Obamacare, people with disabilities could be charged more for/denied health insurance

State Governments and Healthcare

• States run Medicaid
• 2014-2017: 15,600 died because states did not expand Medicaid¹
• State Medicaid eligibility income levels vary²
• Massachusetts 6x coverage of Texas³

Roe v Wade and Dobbs v Jackson

Roe v Wade (Judicial)

• 1973: right to abortion (Roe)
• 2022: overturned (Dobbs)
• States determine abortion legality
• Abortion restrictions vague
• Patients and providers can be prosecuted¹

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(Politico, June 24 2022)

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Texas fetal heartbeat law: no abortions once heartbeat detected, as early as 6 weeks

How does health care policy impact doctors’ ability to care for patients?

discuss!

Ways to Impact Politics

Voting is power

• Every politician matters
• May 2022: 1 Congress vote meant no national legal abortion¹
• Judges appointed by executive (president)
• 40% eligible do NOT vote in presidential elections
• Register to vote at age 18: https://howto.vote/

Voting impacts which of the following branches?

1. Legislative
2. Executive
3. Judicial
4. None

list all that apply!

Voting impacts which of the following branches?

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• Legislative
• Executive
• Judicial
• None

Congresspeople and the president are directly elected: the president (mostly) controls judicial appointees, subject to Congressional approval.

Individual and Group Actions

• Unions
• Protests
• Mutual aid - nonprofit aid organizations
• Education - knowledge is power

Name 1 way you can influence politics.

discuss!

Thank you!

BONUS SLIDES

Pandemic Response

Government Directs Response

• CDC manufactured COVID test¹
• Released faulty test²
• Resulted in delayed test rollout
• Monkeypox (2022) : DHHS in charge³
• Distributing 200k vaccines
• Ordering millions more for future
• Public health information around monkeypox

Government Response Critical

• Government determines health outcomes
• Elected officials
• Should get information from doctors/scientists
• Often get information from non-expert sources
• Should convey information to public
• Experts needed in government

"It was very truly an 'oh, crap' moment… These reagents aren't working; everybody is waiting for us all over the city to have this test online. We think we have more cases than we've been able to detect and the test isn't working."¹

Jennifer Rakeman, Director of the New York City Public Health Laboratory

Culture is Political

• Masking normal in some Asian countries¹
• Normalized after 2002 SARS outbreak
• Other functions: air pollution (Taiwan, China)
• Purely cosmetic masks, no makeup days
• Anti-maskers fearful of government overreach
• Protests in US, EU, Canada, Australia²

2014 Chinese fashion show pollution mask³

What are some ways politics can affect the progression of a pandemic?

discuss!