Health and Healthcare Problems: Group Discussion Issues you might focus upon:

1. What are some of the global inequalities & differences in health (Life Expectancy, Infant Mortality & causes of, Maternal mortality, globestity, etc.) . How does US compare to other wealthy countries in terms of health & what explains this (health systems, physical environment, etc.) (Mooney et al. ch. 2)

2. How does US compare internationally in Healthcare access / coverage, spending/funding and in health-well-being statistics? & what are health consequences of not having H. insurance? (Mooney et al. Ch 2.; Frakt et al. web rdg..)

3. Why is Mental health a hidden epidemic? How common? Causes (biomedical but also social)? How adequate is MH care, & how can we improve access? (Mooney et al. Ch. 2)

4. What are the 3 Main Sociological Theories of Illness and Health care -- Functionalist (functions & dysfunctions of HC), Conflict Perspective (profits, lobbying & HC Industrial Complex), and Symbolic Interactionist (labeling something as illness, Medicalization)? (Mooney et al. Ch. 2)

5. What Social Factors are linked to Health & Illness and how so – Socio-economic status (class), gender, race & ethnicity (what are differences among all these groupings)? In US, what is Medicare and Medicaid? What is workers’ compensation? What is alternative medicine? What are problems in US HC— inadequate insurance coverage (how many left out), high cost (how much for drugs, etc.). How can US HC be improved? Fighting obesity how? Mental health stigma lessening and increased support (how)? What did the Affordable Care Act / Obamacare / Health Care Reform do in US? What are key provisions? What is single-payer system, and does ACA include that? Is HC a Human Right (Mooney et al. Ch. 2)

6. What are the main problems of US Healthcare system re: cost & price? How does that make for in= in HC? How much does US spend on HC, & how much are we overspending? What is a hospital “chargemaster”? What are examples of over-charging? How profitable are non-profit hospitals? How profitable are pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies and HC labs & out-patient care? How much does HC industry lobby govt.? (Frakt et al. web rdg.) What is role of drug costs, insurance industry, medical technology (Mooney et al ch. 2; Frakt et al. web rdg.,),

7. What is the role of Insurance companies & costs & deciding who’s covered for what & who is covered at all? What is cost overhead for private insurance vs. govt. programs? What is “Single-Payer Insurance” ?( Mooney et al Ch. 2,).

8. What is the role of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Healthcare & problems: How are prices vs. costs of production? How much goes to Research and Development compared to profits? (Frakt et al. web rdg.)

9. How can free fresh food be a prescription for health problems like diabetes? How is Diabetes expanding, related to obesity, related to “obesogens” as well as diet and lifestyle? What diseases is BPA linked to? (Aubrey et al. web rdg).

10. What happened to in Flint, MI, & why are manslaughter charges? Flint’s Water? Why? What is the health risk? How is this related to race and class? (Gleneza et al web rdg.)

11. What is happening to health for white, middle –aged working class and why? What are main causes of death? (Achenbach et al. web rdg.)

12. How did the “Opioid Crisis” come about? How many people are dying? What is the role of the Pharmaceutical industry in promoting highly addictive opioids? Perscription growth? What did the FDA do to facilitate spread of Oxycontin? How did push for “pain as the fifth vital sign” fuel the crisis? What is the Oxycontin additction rate? How does it lead to herion use? To what did Oxycontin makers plead guilty ? (Shesgreen et al. web rdg).