Date of Award
4-14-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Jennifer Erkulwater
Second Advisor
Tracy Roof
Abstract
Serious talk of healthcare reform in the United States materializes every decade. As one of the only developed countries with a market-based approach to healthcare, rather than the universal approach used by countries like Canada and the United Kingdom, debates about the United States’ healthcare system are inevitable. Universal healthcare does not eliminate political debates about its institutions and application; however, reasonably with more autonomy in a market-based system, more questions and debates arise. Unlike niche political matters, healthcare politics are unique in that all citizens have a stake in the game. Some, for example the chronically ill or employees within the healthcare field, may convey a greater level of concern for the state of healthcare politics. But, when the federal government makes a healthcare decision, all citizens are implicated. Healthcare decisions carry not only vast personal wellbeing repercussions but also weighty financial consequences for citizens. In 2020, national health expenditures accounted for nearly 20% of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product spending.1 American citizens are spending a substantial sum of money on healthcare, much more than any other developed country.2 Therefore it is reasonable to anticipate that conversations surrounding healthcare reform will continue to be a prominent feature of American politics, as it has been throughout American history.
Recommended Citation
Schmitz, Megan, "A Tale of Two Venues: Lobbying the Affordable Care Act" (2023). Honors Theses. 1718.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1718