Public Policy Exam 2

Front 1

Purpose of health care policy

Back 1

Cover as many as possible

Control costs

Front 2

How much more does the US spend than the OECD average?

Back 2

2.5 times that of the average

Front 3

Relationship between US spending and life expectancy in US

Back 3

Most spending yet average life expectancy

Front 4

What age bracket spends the most money in terms of healthcare?

Back 4

65+

Front 5

Medicare

Back 5

1965 as part of Social Security Expansion, finances through payroll taxes

Front 6

Supplemental Medical Insurance

Back 6

Individual/payroll

Front 7

Medicaid

Back 7

For poor and needy

Front 8

SCHIP

Back 8

Incomes below 200% of poverty

Front 9

What is the cause of the healthcare policy outcome

Back 9

Market structure

Policy ideas

Interest group strategies

Public views

Structure of national political institutions

Decisions taken at critical junctions

Front 10

Economic Outcome Explanation of Healthcare Policy

Back 10

Similar tech and economic levels produce similar health care policies

Front 11

Cultural Explanation of Healthcare Policy

Back 11

Ideological beliefs shared by public

Front 12

Interest group (Rational choice/pluralism) explanation of healthcare policy

Back 12

Health policies reflect interest group competition

Conflict between buyers (public) and sellers (doctors) of medical services
Labor vs. capital

Front 13

Administrative Capacity Explanation of Healthcare Policy

Back 13

Centralized, professional bureaucracy

Front 14

Federalism explanation of healthcare policy

Back 14

Third party viability at subnational unit level

Ability of federal govt to equalize finances across subnational units

Front 15

Government structure explanation of healthcare policy

Back 15

Fragmentation--veto points

Front 16

Timing explanation of healthcare policy

Back 16

Expansion of medical services
Expansion of access to medical services

Front 17

Opportunities to change explanations of healthcare policy

Back 17

Critical junctures-> decisions -> future decisions

Examples 1930's Depression, 1970's economic retrenchment, 2008 Great Recession

Front 18

US Healthcare System

Back 18

Private insured, employer provided

State pays for most expensive (old, infirm) through SS and Welfare

Tax and labor policies targeting employed, middle class

Front 19

The setting of Healthcare policy

Back 19

Federalism

Two party system

Multiple veto points

Disaggregated labor market for medical professionals

Front 20

Timing and sequence of healthcare policy

Back 20

Medical profession takes off in 1920s, created incentive to make more $

AMA lobbies congress & state legislatures to defeat "Bolshevik, German" universal healthcare system advocated by American Assoc. of Labor Legislation

Fees skyrocketed

New Deal legislation did not include medical provision due to alliance b/w AMA & conservative, Anti-FDR conservatives

1942 War Labor Board allowed firms to offer healthcare as fringe benefit, creating a "private welfare state"

Post-war, a time when UK was created NHS, Truman and unions could not overcome AMA, conservatives

1965 Democratic landslide, defeat of blue dogs allowed LBJ to create medicare

Nixon proposes plan similar to Obamacare, economic downturn and increasing fragmentation in congress defeats proposal

Health Management Organizations designed to control costs for employers

Clinton's Failure

Front 21

Possible solutions for healthcare

Back 21

British system- Universal

Canadian System-Single payer

Modified American system-Obamacare

Front 22

Obamacare

Back 22

Individual mandate

Employer mandate (over 50 employed)

Medicaid expansion (133% of poverty)

Health Insurance changes

Tax on capital investment of 3.8% over $200k single and $250k married

Front 23

Obstacles to Obamacare

Back 23

IRS enforcement (challenged)

Employer participation

State participation in exchanges

Conflict over standards

Medicaid cost sharing

Medical loss ratio: Health care insurance companies limited to 15% of revenue on administrative services

Front 24

Types of Economic Policy

Back 24

Fiscal and Monetary

Front 25

Fiscal policy

Back 25

Decisions about taxing, spending, deficit (congress)

Front 26

Monetary policy

Back 26

Decisions about the money supply and the interest rate (Fed 1913)

Front 27

Goals of economic policy

Back 27

Economic growth

Increased standard of living

Full employment

Stable prices

Manageable inflation

Front 28

Measuring impact of economic policy

Back 28

GDP

Inflation rate

Unemployment

Front 29

Political economy perspectives

Back 29

Classical liberalism

Keynesianism

Front 30

Classical Liberalism

Back 30

Deregulation

Privatization

Front 31

Keynesianism

Back 31

aggregate demand is influenced by a host of economic decisions-both public and private-and sometimes behaves erratically

Changes in aggregate demand, whether anticipated or unanticipated, have their greatest short-run effect on real output and employment, not on prices

prices, and esp. wages, respond slowly to changes in supply and demand, resulting in periodic shortages and surpluses, esp. of labor

the typical level of unemployment is ideal b/c unemployment is subject to the caprice of aggregate demand, and b/c they believe prices adjust gradually

Front 32

Supply side economics

Back 32

Supply creates its own demand facilitated by low taxes (esp capital gains), lax regulatory environment, and laissez-faire

Front 33

Who makes economic policy?

Back 33

Federal Reserve

Front 34

Federal Reserve

Back 34

Created in 1913 as Independent Central Bank with no more than 12 district banks

Charged with promoting "max employment, stable prices, moderate long-term interest rates"

Focused primarily on monetary policy (how much is in circulation)

Controls money supply through the interest rate (discount rate) it charges on the lending out the "reserve ratio"

Banks are required to maintain a certain liquidity ratio

Front 35

USD comprises what percentage of world currency reserves

Back 35

60%

Front 36

US Foreign Debt

Back 36

Grown with demand for safe harbor for surplus capital during financial crisis.

Front 37

Fixing the Recession

Back 37

Wall Street Bailout (emergency economic stabilization act)

Maiden Lane I LLC ($30 bil to JP Morgan Chase to finance purchase of Bear Stearns)

Maiden Lane II LLC and Maiden Lane III LLC ($53 bil) of AIG buyout (paid back)

Troubled Asset Recovery Program (Direct investment of $700 bil in troubled banks; $418 spent; $405B recovered)

GM/Chrysler Purchase ($50B/$80B overall; roughly 60% stake; sold in 2013) saved 1.2 mil jobs

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ($831 Bil) 400 to indiv>$75k; $800 to couples > $150K

Front 38

Dodd-Frank Act of 2010

Back 38

Financial Stability Oversight Council and Office of Financial Research manage and response to market risk and promote market discipline

Sec treasury, Fed chair, Comptroller of Currency, Director of Consumer Financial Protections, US SEC chair, FDIC chair....

Broad powers to regulate, demand info and audit large >$50 bil corp

Report to congress

Create safe harbor rules, financial reg. through recommendation to appropriate agency

Front 39

Victimless crime

Back 39

Participation by both parties is victimless

Front 40

Hate crimes

Back 40

bias motivated conduct, not the expression of bias or hatred

Front 41

Why did crime rates decrease?

Back 41

Crackdowns, aggressive policing, community policing, longer prison sentences, etc.

Determination on the rationality of crime depends on the causes of crime

Front 42

Strain theory cause of crime

Back 42

Straining conditions or events make people feel bad, create pressure for corrective action. Leads to delinquency when punishment is low and rewards are high.

Others prevent you from achieving your goals

Others take things you value or present you with negative or noxious stimuli

Front 43

Social learning theory cause of crime

Back 43

People learn to engage in crime primarily through association with other people. Reinforced for crime, learn beliefs that prefer crime and exposed to criminal models and view as acceptable/desirable. Youth learn to engage same way as conforming to other behavioral norms

Front 44

Primary mechanisms of Social learning theory cause of crime

Back 44

Differential reinforcement (bad behavior rewarded)

Beliefs (most criminals don't approve of crime however soft victimless crimes are usually approved and justified)

Modeling

Front 45

Control theory cause of crime

Back 45

Crime is a normal behavior. People have goals and use crime to achieve. People do not engage in crime because of lack of controls or barriers to crime

Front 46

Mechanisms of control theory cause of crime

Back 46

Direct control: setting rules/monitoring behavior/ sanctioning crime

Indirect control: Internal Control, stake in conformity

Front 47

Labeling theory cause of crime

Back 47

People labeled social deviant younger or criminals eventually act to label

Front 48

Social disorganization cause of crime

Back 48

Crime is more likely in communities that are economically deprived, large in size, high in multi-unit housing, high in residential mobility and high in family disruption

Front 49

What should be the means to continue success (criminal justice)?

Back 49

Deterrence: Credibility of threat, short time horizon, high cost

Justice

Incapacitation

Rehabilitation

Front 50

Policing Function in Crime

Back 50

Enforce laws

Keep peace

Furnish services

Front 51

Policing Strategies

Back 51

Patrol

Community policing

Broken windows

Data-led strategies: Hot Spot policing, information policing, predictive policing

Front 52

Current Issues/Options in Drug War

Back 52

Interdiction, international attack on suppliers and shipments

Domestic law enforcement

Treatment

Prevention

Front 53

Welfare as Entitlements

Back 53

Entitlement spending: benefits for which Congress has set eligibility criteria

Supplemental security income (blind/disabled)

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (dependent children)

Social Security: Age 66

Front 54

Goals of entitlement spending

Back 54

Concept of social insurance-Safety net to protect people from poverty

Bring people up out of poverty

Front 55

Poverty

Back 55

Threshold originally developed by Mollie Orshansky of SSA in 1963. Used cheapest food

Because food = 1/3 budget, mult. amount times 3 to get poverty multiplier

Front 56

Problems with definition: too few poor

Back 56

Official income includes social security and welfare payments increasing number of poor to 20% pop

Doesn't count near poor, 20% who live under 125% threshold

Doesn't accoun standard of living diff. areas

Doesn't count what people think they need

Doesn't consider value of assets

Counts students deferring current earnings for potential

Many people underreport

Doesn't count non cash benefits for poor (food stamps...)

Could be as low as 8% pop

Front 57

Who is likely to be poor?

Back 57

under 18 single female-headed household, black, younger, temporarily poor

Front 58

Human capital theory cause of poverty

Back 58

low productivity leads to poverty

Front 59

Other causes of poverty

Back 59

Culture of poverty

Breakdown of basic family unity

Front 60

Policies to combat poverty- Prevention

Back 60

Social Security Act of 1935 (New Deal) based on idea of social insurance working like private insurance, concept of pooled risk

Entitement based on age

Old Age Survivor's and Disability insurance

Front 61

How are Social Security and Medicare paid for?

Back 61

Trust fund, pay as you go

Front 62

How to fix issues with welfare

Back 62

Raise retirement age

Reduce cost oc living adjustements for retirees (don't buy autos, houses, school...)

Private social security accounts

Front 63

Policies tested to combat poverty

Back 63

Medicaid

SCHIP

Supplemental Security Income

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food stamps)

Temporary Assist. for Needy Families TANF 1996 replaced AFDC, 5 yr rule, can't be used for adults after 2 years

Earned income tax credit