How do countries determine and justify paying for health care amidst increasing healthcare prices, people needing and at times demanding expensive interventions, and the spiking health inequities between communities? Which notions of deservingness and equality shape political decisions that pay for health care for some people and exclude others?
In this course, we analyze health insurance systems in other countries and countries’ different approaches to paying for healthcare. Turning our attention to the US health system, we will analyze the challenges that vulnerable groups, such as low-income and migrant communities, face when needing health services. Their quests for care point to structural and political inequalities built into the health system that ameliorate disparities. At the same time, our analysis of these inequalities also shows us opportunities to improve the health system.