American Political System and US Health Policy
Summer 2011
JSM687
Thursday, 9:30 AM to 10:50 AM
Room: J3019
Instructor: Pamela Walsh, Ph.D., Fulbright Scholar
Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Public and Social Policy
Office: FSV- 3067
Office hours: Thursday, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Students are encouraged to see me during office hours. If these times are not good fro the
student, we can arrange a mutually convenient time through email.
Instructor’s Email: walsh@fsv.cuni.cz
Study programs: Master’s level programs Public and Social Policy (VSP), European Studies
(ES), and European Economic and Political Studies (IEPS), Erasmus Program Students.
Scope of instruction: 2/0
Credits: 6
Course Description: This course provides an overview of the American political system, the
policy process and the impact on health policy in the United States. It also addresses the
organization, delivery and financing of the U.S. health care system. Topics include structure
of the US political system, public policy process, evolution of the American health insurance
system, governmental programs, financing of health care, with an emphasis on issues
surrounding the Affordable Care Act that include politics, policy process, and the influence of
policy actors. The format will be a mixture of lectures, with class discussions and student
participation.
Objectives:
By the end of the semester, the student will be able to:
 Describe the basic structure of the United States’ political system.
 Describe the evolution of the health care policy and insurance in the United States.
 Describe how the US health care system is organized and financed.
 Describe the major governmental health care programs and discuss their impact on
health care.
 Analyze the political and policy processes surrounding the passage of key health
programs and the impact on diverse stakeholders
 Articulate the relationships among health policy, the policy process and the United
States’ political systems, using Kingdon’s policy paradigm
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Conditions of enrollment
The course is available for students of Master’s Degree Programs, PhD. programs, and
Erasmus programs provided by the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Core reference resources
Longest Jr., Beaufort. (2009). Health Policymaking in the United States. Health
Administration Press. Washington, DC
Kingdon, John (1995). Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies. Harper Collins College
Publishers. New York
Patel, Kant and Mark Rushefsky. (2006). Health Care Politics and Policy in America. M.E.
Sharpe, New York
Other resources:
Other readings are indicated with the topics and will be posted online. During the semester, I
may also post online select readings from other journal articles, the New York Times, other
major newspapers, Kaiser Family Foundation, Urban Institute, Commonwealth Fund and
position papers of the hospital, medical and insurance associations.
Course requirements
Students are required to attend the lectures, read the assigned literature before the lecture,
submit an annotated bibliography (in English), class presentation on the annotated
bibliography and pass the written examination (in English). The topic for the bibliography
will be selected by each student in the beginning of the course and approved by the course
leader.
Your attendance and participation grade will be based on attendance and engagement in
thoughtful discussion of issue pertinent to the assigned material. This may include written
assignments. Attendance without participation or participation and missing classes will not
earn you the full attendance and participation points. Arriving late and leaving early will
adversely affect your attendance and participation grade.
Due date of annotated bibliography: May 5, 2011
I will deduct 5 points for each day an assignment is late. If an assignment is late five days or
more, I will not accept it.
Instructions for the bibliography
The student will write an annotated bibliography on a US health policy of your choice. This
is an opportunity for you to read more extensively about a health policy issue of interest to
you. You are to review five (5) articles (no more & no less) that have been published in peerreviewed journals or issued as reports by a government web-site or foundations, such as
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation or Commonwealth Fund, since
2005 and submit an annotated bibliography by May 5, 2011. This does not include the
assigned readings. The maximum number of pages is five. These can be single-spaced pages.
The articles you annotate need to be at least five pages or longer.
Identify the topic and the full citations of the journal articles/reports that you will annotate by
March 10, 2011. These are to be typed and submitted to me before class starts on March 10.
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Further instructions on this assignment and the class presentation will be provided during
class.
Grading
Activity
Attendance at Lectures & participation
Annotated bibliography
Class presentation
Written examination
Points (up to)
35
30
10
25
Final evaluation
Points (total) Result
85-100
Excellent (1)
70-84
Very good (2)
56-69
Good (3)
< 56
Fail (4)
The instructor may add readings to the syllabus and reserves the right to make changes
to the syllabus during the semester. If changes are made, students will be informed in
advance.
Research and Study Ethical Standards:
In consideration of Charles University's tradition and the nature of the subjects taught, high
importance shall be attached to the ethical and responsible behavior of all students. In
particular the following shall be considered a serious breach of ethical standards:
a) Plagiarism, i. e. using quotes, data or ideas (or parts of own papers presented within other
subjects) without accurate identification of source;
b) manipulation of data and information (such as altering or unauthorized creation);
c) Cheating.
Breach of the rules (including any type of plagiarism) shall be strictly dealt with in
accordance with the FSV UK Disciplinary Rules (available on http://www.fsv.cuni.cz/FSV220.html and http://www.fsv.cuni.cz/FSV-637.html).
Draft Course Outline
American Political System and Health Policy
Date
24-2-11
Topic &Readings
Review of Syllabus and Course expectations
Overview of US Political System (Organization and Characteristics of
American Political system).
United States Constitution
Chap. 1. Health Care Politics, in Patel and Rushefsky
Chaps. 2 and 3. Kingdon (1995), Agenda, Alternatives, and Public Policies
3-3-11
Review of Public Policy, particularly the agenda setting process and
relationship to health policy
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Date
10-3-11
Topic &Readings
Chap. 3 and 4. Longest (2009). Health Policymaking in the United States
Chap. 5 to 9. Kingdon (1995), Agenda, Alternatives, and Public Policies
(recommended)
Evolution of health care policy from the 19th century to the 21st century.
Chap. 2. Health Care Policy in the United States, in Patel and Rushefsky
17-3-11
Uninsured and the Underinsured
Chap. 5. Health Care and the Disadvantaged: Falling through the Cracks, in
Patel and Rushefsky
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) (October
2009). The Uninsured: A Primer.
24-3-11
31-3-11
No class
Lecturer at a conference
Students to work on their annotated
bibliographies
Health Care Reform in the United States
Chap. 9. Reforming the System, in Patel and Rushefsky
KFF- Summary of the New Health Reform Law
Library of Congress (2010) PL 111-148- A Summary
Davis, K. (June 2010) A New Era in American Health Care: Realizing the
Potential of Reform, The Commonwealth Fund
Buettgens, M., B. Garrett, and John Holahan (2010). America Under the
Affordable Care Act Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation.
7-4-11
Private and employer based health insurance
Claxton, Gary and J. Lundy (2008). How Private Health Coverage Works: A
Primer, 2008 Update. Kaiser Family Foundation (online)
Chap. 9. Hacker (2008) Privatizing Health Politics: The Origins-and
Enduring Dilemmas- of America’s Public-Private Insurance Framework, in
Morone, Health Politics and Policy (online) Collins, S.R. K. Davis, J. L.
House Committees on Ways And Means, Energy And Commerce and
Education And Labor (March 18, 2010). Employers And Health Reform
Collins, S.R. K. Davis, J. L. Nicholson, and K. Stremikis, (September 2010)
Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: Small Businesses and the Affordable
Care Act of 2010, The Commonwealth Fund
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Date
14-4-11
Topic &Readings
Medicare- government program for the elderly
Chap. 4. Medicare: Health Care for the Elderly and Disabled, in Patel and
Rushefsky
Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) (2010). Medicare: A Primer
KFF (2010) Summary Of Key Changes To Medicare In 2010 Health Reform
Law
KFF (2009) Medicare Advantage
KFF (2010) Key Changes in the Medicare Advantage Program
KFF (February 2008). Low-Income Assistance Under The Medicare Drug
Benefit.
KFF (2009) The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
KFF (March 2010) Key Changes to the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit
Coverage Gap
21-4-11
Medicaid- government program for low income
Chap. 3. Medicaid: Health Care for the Poor, in Patel and Rushefsky
KCMU (2010) Medicaid: A Primer
KFF (May 2010) Financing New Medicaid Coverage Under Health Reform:
The Role of the Federal Government and States.
KFF. Medicaid And Children’s Health Insurance Program Provisions In The
New Health Reform Law
KCMU (2007). Impacts of Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP) on Low-Income Children’s Health
28-4-11
5-5-11
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Policy Issues (Guest speaker)
Readings- To be determined
Student presentations may start
Controlling health care costs- federal and government efforts
Chap. 6. Health Care Cost Containment, in Patel and Rushefsky
Chap. 10. The Triumph of Incrementalism: From Managed Care to
Consumer-Driven Health Care, in Patel and Rushefsky
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). (2005). Health Care Spending
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Date
Topic &Readings
Accounts: What You Need to Know About HSAs, HRAs, FSAs, and MSAs
Department of Labor (December 2004) Fact sheet: Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
12-5-11
19-5-11
Student presentations and review for Final Exam
Final examination- Two other dates will be provided during the first part of
the semester
Web resources
America's Health Insurance Plans: http://www.ahip.org
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: http://bcbshealthissues.com link to various BCBC state
sites. The focus is on private health insurance
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: http://www.cms.hhs.gov US government
resource
Commonwealth Fund http://www.commonwealthfund.org great resource on health insurance
topics and other health issues.
Council for Affordable Health Insurance: http://www.cahi.org State health insurance
mandates
Employee Benefit Research Institute: http://www.ebri.org/publications/ib Information on
employee benefits
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute: www.healthinsuranceinfo.net. Consumer’s
Guide to Insurance by state.
Healthcare.gov: Understanding Affordable Health care Act
Heritage Foundation: www.heritage.org very conservative policy institute
Kaiser Family Foundation: http://www.kff.org Excellent resource on a number of health
policy and insurance issues.
National Academy of State Health Policy: http://www.nashp.org Information on ERISA
National Association of Health Insurance Underwritershttp://www.nahu.org/education/statedept.cfm resource on state issues
National Center for Health Statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/index.htm- Statistics on
Health Insurance Coverage
National Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org. Information about health and
other policy issues at eh state level.
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Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
Purdue University owl.english.purdue.edu/oldindex.html- assistance with APA style
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: www.rwjf.org/healthpolicy- great resource on health
policy
US Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov Demographic data on the US
Urban Institute: www.urban.org . Policy research and educational organization that examines
the social, economic, and governance problems facing the nation.
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