PPA 200 Final exam Minnis-Mcclain

merit good

a good or service society deems everyone is entitled to some minimal quantity of

Medicare

A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other health expenses.

Medicaid

A federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for people who cannot afford them.

Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

ensures kids in poverty have medical coverage

Health Management Organization (HMO)

a type of health insurance in which a group of healthcare providers accept insurance payments to provide specific health services to members of the plan at a renegotiated rate

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)

group of healthcare providers that provide services to a specific group, often at a reduced rate

Tricare

U.S. government health insurance plan for all military personnel

Pluralistic Health Care System

blended public and private funding

single-payer system

Government run healthcare system. Healthcare system is made up of a) cost, b) access and c) quality.

Policy tools for health care

Government management, regulation, education, taxing/spending

Major issues with healthcare

Poor access to care, growing costs

Affordable care act (ACA)

Federal legislation passed in 2010 that includes a number of provisions designed to increase access to healthcare, improve the quality of healthcare, and explore new models of delivering and paying for healthcare.

Problems with ACA

Enrollment issues, states opting out, court decisions

deep poverty

income levels below 50% of the federal poverty line

Poverty line

24,000 a year

Gini Coefficient

A measure of income inequality within a population, ranging from zero for complete equality, to one if one person has all the income.

Culture of poverty

the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children

Social Security Act

(FDR) 1935, guaranteed retirement payments for enrolled workers beginning at age 65; set up federal-state system of unemployment insurance and care for dependent mothers and children, the handicapped, and public health

Supplemental Nutrition Assist Program (SNAP)

Formally known as food stamps, helps poor

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

A provision of a 1975 law that entitles working families with children to receive money from the government if their total income is below a certain level. The program was expanded in the early 1990s.

Negative impacts of poverty

fail to meet basic needs, lower academic achievement, fewer opportunities, culture of poverty

Social security reform proposals

increase retirement age, raise ceiling for payroll tax, reduce benefits for rich, slow cost of living increase, slowly privatize

Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)

Legislation that converted welfare from a categorical grant to a block grant--an example of devolution, gives cash benefit

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

A major piece of federal legislation that provides federal direction to education and federal funds for schools, first passed in 1965.

School vouchers

payments from the government to parents whose children attend failing public schools; the money helps parents pay private school tuition

Charter schools

public schools run by private entities to give parents greater control over their children's education, funded by government

K-12 Funding

Mostly local property tax and state funding

Race to the Top Initiative

Competition for states, innovation to help failing districts, merit pay for teachers

Pell Grant

A grant awarded based on financial need by the U.S. federal government to help students pay for higher
education.

Higher education issues

not necessarily quality, affirmative action equity concerns, cost and access, aid programs not well funded, student debt averages more than 28 K

Clean Power Plan

A policy aimed at combating global warming that was first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in June 2014, under the administration of US President Barack Obama

collaborative decision making

Industry stakeholders work with government officials

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

A document outlining the scope and purpose of a development project, describing the environmental context, suggesting alternative approaches to the project, and analyzing the environmental impact of each alternative.

Clean Air Act (CAA)

sets emission standards for cars, addresses requirements for reducing ozone depletion and acid deposition

Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)

A government database that reports the annual releases of pollutants by large industrial facilities.

command-and-control policy

The typical system of regulation whereby government tells business how to reach certain goals, checks that these commands are followed, and punishes offenders.

direct regulation

the amount of a good people are allowed to use is directly limited by the government

Clean Water Act (CWA)

1972; set maximum permissible amounts of water pollutants that can be discharged into waterways; aims to make surface waters swimmable and fishable

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is allowed to set the standards for drinking water quality and oversees all of the states, localities, and water suppliers who implement these standards

Environmental stewardship

the protection of resources for the future

User fees

charges levied for the use of natural resources

Reduce resource subsidies

Government policies that provide financial incentives (subsidies) to develop and use specific resources, such as land, water, minerals, and forests. Traditionally a major component of federal natural resource policies.

Cap and trade

a method for managing pollution in which a limit is placed on emissions and businesses or countries can buy and sell emissions allowances

Corporate Average Fuel Economy

CAFE; standards created by the government that rose the average fuel efficiency for motor vehicles sold in the US

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

Made to eliminate insects, vermin or anything else that could contaminate food

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Management of non-hazardous and hazardous solid waste including landfills and storage tanks. Set minimal standards for all waste disposal facilities and for hazardous wastes.

Superfund

A fund created by Congress in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites. Money for the fund comes from taxing chemical products.

Climate security act

Proposed cap and trade, carbon capture and cleaner cars

National Security Council

An office created in 1947 to coordinate the president's foreign and military policy advisers. Its formal members are the president, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense, and it is managed by the president's national security assistant.

Real Politik

German term meaning practical politics, that means, policy determined by expediency rather then by ethical or ideological considerations.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a group of 28 countries that has agreed to protect each other in case of attack; founded in 1949

World Bank and International Monetary Fund

two agencies of the United nations that give loans to countries for development projects

WTO (World Trade Organization)

the only international body dealing with the rules of trade between nations

nuke proliferation

spread of nuclear weapons knowledge

US Agency for International Development (USAID)

Government agency that administers non-military foreign aid

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)

An agreement for free trade between the United States and Canada and Mexico

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)

The military officers in charge of each of the armed services

Marshall Plan

A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)

Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004

Reshaped structure of major intelligence agencies in the wake of 9/11, biggest reform in that sector since WW2

Reasons for government intervention in Criminal justice

Market failure, public good, security

Criminal justice evaluative criteria

number of incarcerated, taxes spent, rate of rehabilitation, reform of private prisons?

Andrews and Banta

Studied american criminal justice systems in comparison with Canada, found U.S. is more concerned with punishment while Canada focuses on shorter sentences and rehabilitation

Goals of the Healthcare System

(1) to maximize the quality of health care available, (2) to minimize total national expenditures on health care, and (3) to achieve equitable distribution of the benefits of quality health care and of the burden of costs

Goals of social welfare policy

ensure the welfare of the state and individuals and the dynamic practices that constantly change. The main goal of social policies is to ensure that everyone in society lives in peace and harmony away from conflicts

Goals of education policy

Create and foster young minds in a constructive and safe environment

Goals of environmental policy

protect, conserve, rehabilitate and improve the environment, through the prevention and control of pollution, and promotion of sustainable development.

Policy tools of social welfare

subsidies, government management

Social welfare evaluative criteria

Why has poverty has grown and stayed high? Is what we're investing working? Are opportunities to succeed equal? Is it fair to keep supporting people in poverty?

Health care effectiveness criteria

We have some of the best health care
treatments in the world, We lead the world in medical innovation, For certain diseases, US has better results, In some public health measures we lag behind other countries

Health care efficiency criteria

17% of U.S. GDP spent on
health care (highest rate
in the world), Despite much
spending outcomes are mediocre
75% spent on preventable
diseases (cancer,
diabetes), Excessive amount spent on administrative costs not care

Health care equity criteria

50 million uninsured, only first world country without universal healthcare

Environmental policy tools

Reduce subsidies for resource use (mining, timber, oil and gas exploration), Impose user fees, More control for state and local governments, Sustainable development movement, Better measurements of environmental quality

Foreign policy tools

Diplomacy, Trade policies and restraints (tariffs, trade agreements: NAFTA, TPP), Defense practices: Weapons systems, deterrence, Military actions: Foreign aid- economic or other assistance, Sanctions: Cuba, Turkey, Other tools: spending, regulating

Key tenants of the ACA

1. Reform private insurance market, especially for individuals and small group purchasers, 2. To expand medicaid, 3. Change the way medical decisions are made