Health-Care Policy: Should Change Be Small or Large?
Volume 4. The Profession of Social Work
III. Policy to Practice and Practice to Policy
Pamela J. Miller,
Pamela J. Miller
Portland State University, School of Social Work, Portland, Oregon, US
Search for more papers by this authorPamela J. Miller,
Pamela J. Miller
Portland State University, School of Social Work, Portland, Oregon, US
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 15 July 2008
Abstract
The United States has a disaster happening every day through a lack of health insurance and disparities in care. Thousands of lives are lost each year. If we heard about these needless deaths with an equal ear to terrorism and hurricanes, then a social justice approach to health policy could lead to change. This chapter explores the political, social, and historical events that set the stage for several health policies: Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, Medicare Part D, Patient Self-Determination Act, Medicare Hospice Benefit, Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, women's reproductive health, and End-Stage Renal Disease. Also, strategies for change are discussed through research on prevention efforts and Healthy People 2010. The Archimedes Movement, a plan to radically alter the health care system through community-based coalitions that push politicians for change, is briefly discussed. Our health system is in trouble and there is much work to be done. Through informed knowledge of how health policies have come to be, social workers and social work students can learn from the past in order to move forward for systemic change. There is plenty of data about the extreme problems of health care delivery in the United States. As a society, we should fear what is happening in our health care system and then allow ourselves to shift to ideas and possibilities that inspire us to become part of the solution.
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