Deck 23: American Health Care in International Perspective

Question 1

Which statement reflects a unique obstacle to national health insurance in the U.S.?

A)The private health insurance industry became much larger in the U.S. than in other countries and has much more political power.
B)The power of public-health professionals to emphasize investment in prevention over curative care.
C)The lack of health services researchers to determine the most effective treatments and their costs.
D)The conservative party in the U.S. is more open to measures that socialize risk than the conservative parties in much of Europe have been.

Answer 1

The private health insurance industry became much larger in the U.S. than in other countries and has much more political power.

Question 2

Which statement reflects a common factor across nations in health politics?

A)Reducing hospital stays is an important cost-control measure.
B)Physicians generally prefer to be part of large, integrated group practices.
C)The menu of cost-control ideas is pretty similar across disciplines.
D)Health care professionals agree that market-based solutions provide the best health outcomes.

Answer 2

Reducing hospital stays is an important cost-control measure.

Question 3

Which statement best describes employer-provided health insurance under the Affordable Care Act?

A)Each employer individually must battle the insurers and medical providers over costs.
B)Employer-sponsored benefits packages will be increasingly standardized.
C)Individual employers have increased leverage to get better deals from insurers.
D)Individual employers will no longer need to adjust the benefits packages they sponsor to control spending.

Answer 3

Each employer individually must battle the insurers and medical providers over costs.

Question 4

Looking at health care in other countries can ____.

A)provide caution against believing a problem can be easily solved
B)always increase the possible solutions to a policy problem
C)prove which health care system is best in terms of quality
D)establish precise cause and effect relationships in U.S. policies

Question 5

What is the likely long-term outcome of the Supreme Court's decision in NFIB v. Sebelius that states are not required to implement the expansions of Medicaid?

A)Even the states that currently oppose Medicaid expansion will adopt it rather than forego hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money.
B)Even the states that currently oppose Medicaid expansion will adopt it as successive elections cause their legislatures to become increasingly Democratic.
C)Most states will not expand Medicaid coverage, causing insurance guarantees to cover all but some of the poorest citizens.
D)Many states will not expand Medicaid coverage, causing insurance guarantees to vary greatly depending on where one lives.

Question 6

Which aspect of the international standard does the Affordable Care Act bring the U.S. closer to?

A)social sharing
B)concentration of payer power
C)relative administrative simplicity
D)limitations on entrepreneurship

Question 7

Learning from comparisons is most challenging for ____.

A)cause and effect
B)possibilities
C)preferences
D)politics

Question 8

"Rich democracies" are countries that have large enough per capita incomes and responsive enough political arrangements so that underlying economics and sociology ____.

A)enable similar policies, if the political systems so choose
B)enable similar policies, if the academic elites so choose
C)are shaped by homogeneous societies
D)are shaped by highly educated societies

Question 9

In the author's view, what is the best method of cost control?

A)fees set by the government or a cartel of payers negotiating with all providers
B)fees arising from many different payers negotiating with different groups of providers
C)high enough co-pays to reduce the volume and expense of care sought
D)a fee schedule determined annually by the government

Question 10

Which statement is accurate regarding cost control in countries other than the U.S.?

A)If there are multiple payers, the terms of payment from each payer is much the same.
B)Most hospitals and physicians collect revenues from many payers on many different terms.
C)Providers of care are encouraged to buy new equipment and expand their facilities to increase costs and revenues.
D)Each payer tries to negotiate better prices by threatening to take its business to other providers of care.

Question 11

Which statement best describes the author's view of the minimum requirements to have universal health insurance?

A)Health insurance must be compulsory for the lower-income two thirds of the population and payments must be proportional to income.
B)Health insurance must be compulsory for the lower-income three quarters of the population.
C)Health insurance payments and co-pays must be proportional to income.
D)Health insurance must be compulsory for the young and healthy as well as the old and infirm.

Question 12

Overall, in comparison to the national health care or insurance systems in other countries, the Affordable Care Act is ____.

A)much more fragile
B)much more stable
C)strong on cost control but weak on social sharing
D)strong on administrative efficiency but weak on concentration of payer power

Question 13

Which statement best summarizes the author's view of the value received relative to the costs of care in the U.S.?

A)The much higher health care costs in the United States do not appear to be justified by higher quality of care.
B)The United States probably buys some extra amenities for its patients, such as more privacy in hospital rooms and nicer hospital lobbies.
C)Some Americans are getting something for their money in cases where patients would wait longer for elective surgery in some other countries.
D)During 2002-2003, of 19 countries, the United States had the highest level of deaths from conditions that could be successfully treated.

Question 14

All rich democracies other than the U.S. provide ____.

A)virtually universal coverage
B)complete equity of access
C)the same set of services
D)the same allocation of responsibilities among specialists, general practitioners, and other providers

Question 15

Which statement best describes a difference between the U.S. and other countries related to inequality in health care?

A)The U.S. system provides a ragged safety net for the poor.
B)Only the U.S. system has inequality in care.
C)The U.S. system guarantees everyone decent standard coverage and some have more.
D)Most people in the U.S. contribute steadily to a public system to obtain health care coverage.