Deck 17: Policymaking for Health Care, the Environment, and Energy

Question 1

The Children's Health Insurance Program targets which of the following groups?

A) Children whose families are currently enrolled in Medicare.
B) Children whose families cannot afford private insurance but cannot qualify for Medicaid.
C) Children whose families are currently enrolled in an HMO.
D) Children whose families do not make enough money to receive Medicaid.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is true of current health care policy in America?

A) The federal government provides health care to all citizens.
B) Americans are far healthier than Europeans.
C) Total health care spending in the United States is about 17 to 18 percent of GDP.
D) The Affordable Care Act created a single-payer health care system similar to that found in Canada.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Medicaid is aimed at what group of people?

A) children
B) full-time workers
C) seniors
D) the poor

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Who typically qualifies for Medicare?

A) full-time workers
B) those 65 or older
C) the unemployed
D) the poor

Question 5

Which of the following is a provision of the Affordable Care Act?

A) Insurance companies can only stop covering someone during the January open-enrollment period.
B) Young people must be allowed to remain on their parents' insurance until the age of 26.
C) All caps for out-of-pocket expenses must be eliminated by 2019.
D) Doctors can charge patients no more than $10 for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots, and diabetes tests.

Question 6

What proportion of Americans have private health insurance of some kind-either through an employer or purchased individually?

A) one-third
B) one-half
C) two-thirds
D) three-fourths

Question 7

How much do Americans spend on health care each year?

A) $2.9 million
B) $29 million
C) $2.9 billion
D) $2.9 trillion

Question 8

Which of the following pieces of legislation is credited with dramatically increasing the water quality in U.S. lakes and rivers?

A) Toxic Waste Reduction Act
B) Endangered Aquatic Species Act
C) Water Chemical Reduction Act
D) Water Pollution Control Act

Question 9

Of the following countries,which has the lowest infant mortality rate and the highest life expectancy?

A) the United States
B) France
C) Canada
D) Japan

Question 10

Which of the following is true of the Affordable Care Act?

A) It is a national government takeover of health care.
B) It provides universal coverage to all Americans.
C) It involves a single-payer health care system.
D) It requires all Americans to have health insurance.

Question 11

Who was the first president to propose a national health insurance program to be run by the government?

A) Franklin Roosevelt
B) Bill Clinton
C) Harry Truman
D) Barack Obama

Question 12

Medicare is a program that provides health care for __________.

A) the poor
B) retirees
C) the unemployed
D) anyone who lacks health insurance

Question 13

Which of the following was passed by Congress in 1965?

A) Affordable Care Act
B) Children's Health Insurance Program
C) Emergency Medical Treatment Act
D) Medicare

Question 14

Which of the following pieces of legislation first required agencies to file environmental impact statements?

A) the National Environmental Policy Act
B) the Clean Water Act
C) the Clean Air Act
D) the Superfund Act

Question 15

Why were Americans skeptical of Barack Obama's proposals to reform health care?

A) Americans were afraid of losing what they liked about their existing health care.
B) Americans were concerned that Obama's proposals left many without health insurance.
C) Americans wanted a single-payer health care system instead of the reforms Obama proposed.
D) Americans were convinced that Obama was mostly looking out for interests of the health care industry and the insurance companies.

Question 16

Which of the following situations is most likely to create an incentive for doctors to provide unnecessary procedures?

A) a fee-for-service health insurance policy
B) free market health care
C) a single-payer system
D) a health maintenance organization

Question 17

How does life expectancy in the United States compare to other developed nations?

A) It is lower.
B) It is about the same.
C) It is slightly higher.
D) It is much higher.

Question 18

One of the primary obstacles to balancing the federal budget is __________.

A) health care costs
B) environmental policies
C) education expenses
D) monetary policies

Question 19

Which of the following best reflects the Republican reaction to the Affordable Care Act?

A) Republicans have called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
B) Republicans have called for modest improvements to the Affordable Care Act.
C) Republicans have been trying to replace the Affordable Care Act with a single-payer system.
D) Republicans were initially against the Affordable Care Act but now support it.

Question 20

Which of the following is the largest federal independent regulatory agency?

A) the Food and Drug Administration
B) the Central Intelligence Agency
C) the Environmental Protection Agency
D) the Internal Revenue Service

Question 21

What is the most rapidly increasing component of the federal budget?

A) Medicare
B) Medicaid
C) Social Security
D) climate change mitigation

Question 22

What argument is most often given by opponents of strong air and water pollution controls?

A) They ignore wildlife conservation issues.
B) They make it hard for private entities to create stricter standards.
C) They fall disproportionately on the poor.
D) They could reduce economic growth.

Question 23

NIMBY usually applies to which of the following policy areas?

A) health care for the poor
B) health care for the elderly
C) health care for children
D) the environment

Question 24

Which of the following best articulates a disadvantage of U.S. dependence on foreign oil?

A) The need for oil is expected to decline during the next two decades, threating trade relations with other nations.
B) Foreign oil is of a lower quality than domestic oil.
C) Using foreign oil results in increased pollution in the United States due to the possibility of oil spills.
D) The United States is at the mercy of other nations with which we might not always have a good relationship.

Question 25

Which of the following techniques is used to release and capture petroleum and natural gas from the underground rock layer?

A) fission technology
B) hydrofusion
C) geothermal fusion
D) hydraulic fracturing

Question 26

Of the following examples,who is the least likely to have health insurance in the United States?

A) children
B) the poor
C) the elderly
D) young adults

Question 27

Which of the following is an argument for why regulations designed to protect manatees should be relaxed?

A) The manatee has been on the endangered species list for a long time.
B) The manatee population has been increasing.
C) Manatees have no natural predators.
D) Manatees are often injured by boat propellers.

Question 28

What is the most expensive single component of the health care system?

A) emergency room treatment
B) cancer treatment
C) prenatal care
D) nursing home care

Question 29

Which of the following is true of how the U.S. government handles ensuring health care to the poor and the elderly?

A) Medicare provides health care to the poor, and Medicaid provides health care to the elderly.
B) Medicare provides health care to the elderly, and Medicaid provides health care to the poor.
C) Medicare replaced Medicaid in order to provide health care to poor people as well as the elderly.
D) Medicaid replaced Medicare in order to provide health care to poor people as well as the elderly.

Question 30

In which era did health insurance become linked to employment?

A) Progressive Era
B) World War I
C) New Deal
D) World War II

Question 31

What is America's most abundant fuel?

A) kerosene
B) petroleum
C) coal
D) natural gas

Question 32

What is the name for networks of health care providers that directly provide all or most of a person's health care for a yearly fee?

A) health maintenance organizations
B) hospital networks
C) alliances of health
D) fee-for-service networks

Question 33

How does the health care system in the United States compare to other democracies?

A) The United States has a more expensive health care system than other democracies.
B) The United States has an entirely privatized health care system, while other democracies have entirely public health care systems.
C) The United States has a less expensive health care system than other democracies.
D) The United States has a very similar health care system to many other democracies.

Question 34

What is one reason that health care policy in the United States tends to favor the elderly?

A) American political culture places a heavy emphasis on respecting your elders.
B) The AARP is a powerful lobby.
C) A majority of Congress is elderly.
D) The elderly have greater financial resources to use to influence public policy.

Question 35

Which of the following complaints is most directly addressed by the Affordable Care Act?

A) Medicare leaves too many health care expenses for the elderly to pay out of their own pockets.
B) Only a single-payer system can bring about significant health care savings.
C) There are too many uninsured Americans.
D) Employer-sponsored health insurance unnecessarily restricts my choice of doctors.

Question 36

What is the Superfund?

A) a congressional fund to reduce carbon emissions
B) a congressional fund to study global warming
C) a congressional fund to improve air quality
D) a congressional fund to clean up hazardous waste sites

Question 37

Which of the following statements about health care in the United States compared with other industrialized nations is accurate?

A) The United States has lower health care costs because its people are healthier.
B) Other industrialized nations have lower health care costs and better health.
C) Other industrialized nations have higher health care costs because doctors are paid more.
D) The United States has the highest health care costs because we have the most advanced universal health care system in the world.

Question 38

What is an environmental impact statement?

A) A statement prepared by federal agencies detailing the potential environmental impact of a policy proposed by the government.
B) An analysis of how a private entity has negatively impacted the environment.
C) A statement prepared by Congress detailing the potential environmental impact of proposed legislation.
D) A notice of concern sent to all individuals and businesses located close to a Superfund site.

Question 39

In recent years,how has the government limited Medicare costs?

A) raising the eligibility age
B) requiring patients to obtain a supplemental private plan
C) capping the total expenditures per patient
D) reducing the fees it pays to doctors and hospitals

Question 40

Which of the following helps to explain why the United States relies more heavily on expensive,high-tech medical treatments as compared to the United Kingdom?

A) Americans spend more time in the hospital.
B) The United States has more advanced medical technology.
C) The United States has a single-payer health care system.
D) U.S. health care costs are paid from a mixture of sources, leaving no single source primarily responsibility for controlling health care costs.

Question 41

Medicaid is funded by the national government through a tax on cigarettes and alcohol.

Question 42

The Affordable Care Act provides Medicare-like health care to all Americans not already covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Question 43

The infant mortality rate for African Americans is twice as high as the rate for whites.

Question 44

Which of the following is one of the reasons why universal health care was not adopted in the United States when it was first proposed more than 60 years ago?

A) Liberals wanted insurance provided by private companies only.
B) The American Medical Association opposed what it derided as "socialized medicine."
C) Congress was only interested in passing legislation that benefited them personally, and members of Congress already had health care.
D) Americans who lacked health insurance were afraid that private employers would no longer provide coverage.

Question 45

Which of the following is an argument in favor of having national health insurance in the United States?

A) Patients would have more individual control over their health care.
B) All Americans would have access to health care.
C) A national insurance program would promote fair competition among private insurers.
D) A national insurance program would replace the unpopular Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Question 46

Americans have a shorter life expectancy than those in most of the other countries in the developed world.

Question 47

The Affordable Care Act generally requires that Americans have health insurance.

Question 48

Medicaid covers the majority of which of the following groups?

A) nursing home residents
B) women giving birth
C) people with severe disabilities
D) senior citizens

Question 49

Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to have access to health care in the United States.

Question 50

Health care costs account for about one-tenth of America's gross domestic product (GDP).

Question 51

One reason for the increase in health care costs is the overbuilding of medical facilities.

Question 52

Health care costs have risen rapidly in the past 50 years.

Question 53

Advances in medicine have contributed to recent increases in health care costs.

Question 54

The United States has a lower infant mortality rate than Japan.

Question 55

The higher a family's income,the more likely it is that its members are insured.

Question 56

Which of the following is a provision of the Affordable Care Act?

A) Citizens who cannot afford to buy health insurance are exempt from the individual mandate.
B) All employers must provide health insurance for employees who work at least 30 hours a week.
C) The creation of a government-run health care program for all Americans who do not have private insurance.
D) Health insurance companies are prohibited from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions.

Question 57

Which of the following best describes how cap-and-trade is a market-based solution for dealing with carbon dioxide emissions?

A) The market has reduced carbon dioxide emissions without government intervention because companies have self-regulated to remain competitive.
B) The states have reduced carbon dioxide emissions because the federal government has been unwilling to do so.
C) Companies that pollute have spent significant money lobbying Congress to grant them exemptions from environmental regulations.
D) It allows those who reduce emissions to sell credits to those who do not meet environmental standards.

Question 58

Despite concerns about the number of uninsured Americans,studies suggest that the uninsured and the insured have an approximately equal chance of dying.

Question 59

Employers receive a $200 billion tax break from the federal government for providing health insurance to their employees.

Question 60

President Bill Clinton was unsuccessful in reforming health care early in his presidency.

Question 61

The United States produces a larger quantity of greenhouse gases per person than does any other nation.

Question 62

The __________ strongly opposed President Truman's call for national health insurance.

Question 63

A majority of uninsured Americans are full-time workers and their families.

Question 64

Medicare Part A covers prescription drugs.

Question 65

Natural gas is cleaner than petroleum and coal because it does not contribute to global warming.

Question 66

In the United States,the private insurance industry pays most health care costs.

Question 67

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 requires the government to actively protect each of the hundreds of species listed as endangered unless the economic consequences of doing so are too great.

Question 68

An environmental impact statement is required under the provisions of the __________ Act when a government policy is potentially disruptive to the environment.

Question 69

The American public is generally content to defer to the opinions of experts in the fields of health care,environmental protection,and energy when deciding what public policies the United States should pursue because the public recognizes that it lacks expertise in these areas.

Question 70

The Affordable Care Act provides tax credits to help individuals and small businesses buy health insurance.

Question 71

The cost of premiums for family coverage through employer-based insurance has increased by more than 150 percent since 2000.

Question 72

Federal regulation has significantly reduced the pollution in the nation's air and water.

Question 73

One major obstacle to Barack Obama's proposed health care reform was anxiety by the insured that the quality of their care would diminish.

Question 74

Employer-based health insurance arose from a __________ freeze imposed by the government during World War II.

Question 75

The scope of the federal government's involvement in health care decreased under the George W. Bush administration when it urged Congress to remove prescription drug benefits from Medicare because costs were rising at an unsustainable rate.

Question 76

Medicare is designed primarily to help the __________ population.

Question 77

In the United States,doctor visits per person have been increasing.

Question 78

About 50 million Americans are currently covered by Medicare.

Question 79

Solar power accounts for the largest percentage of renewable energy in the United States.

Question 80

Nearly 25 percent of electricity generated in the United States is from renewable sources.