Discuss the main topics of Coverage Issues, Health Care Organizations, Care giving & Disparities.

In the final assignment, you
are to process the book “Mama Might Be Better Off Dead.” The objective of this paper is to identify
how this family has fallen through the cracks and what role would you as a
medical social worker play. Discuss the
main topics of Coverage Issues, Health Care Organizations, Care giving &
Disparities. Identify what the major
problems were facing this family in each of these sections and answer each
questions thoughtfully based on what you feel and what you have learned this
semester. hoices?
Care
giving (134-197)
Who is responsible for Tommy
Markham’s health?
Why was Mrs. Jackson’s home
care so limited?
Medicaid covers nursing home
care for everyone who “spends down,” and many middle-class people use this
strategy successfully. Why do poor African-Americans have trouble getting
placements?
Jackie had the chance to be
paid for caring for her mother. Why didn’t she sign up for it?
Why didn’t Brianna get her
measles vaccination?
What is “the original sin of
American health policy”?
Why isn’t most Medicaid
money spent on poor children? To whom does it go?
Why does being poor affect
your chances of getting a transplant?
Why did Caucasians in
Illinois receive transplants at higher rates than African-Americans?

IV. Disparities
Looking back over this story, what lessons do
you draw about the American health care system? Why do you think the system is
at it is? How would you change it, if you were congress or the president?
Disparities (198-259)
Why do some
African-Americans distrust Caucasian doctors? Why does Tommy distrust his
doctor?
Mrs. Jackson received
extremely expensive high technology care at the end of her life. Why was so
much spent on her in the last three months of her life compared to previous
years?
How does the author feel the
American healthcare system compares to Canada and Great Britain?

V. My Personal Reflections

Draft your own thoughts on
the plight of the Banes family and how social justice could bring needed
change. Use any of the following statements
to guide your reflective ideas:
“In a just society, everyone would receive
exactly the same level of health care coverage. Health care is a basic human
right and you should not get more or less depending on your ability to pay for
it.”
“Forcing everyone into the same health care
system violates basic American values. We don’t provide everyone with the same
house, or the same college education, why would we provide the same level of
health care? Such a system would deter innovation, encourage mediocrity, and
put government bureaucrats in the business of deciding whether you deserve
medical treatment.”
What arguments can be made for either side?
“ Although I sympathize with the Banes
family, the truth is that most of their health problems are the result of bad
choices they have made—poor diets, bad habits, not following doctor’s
directions, not seeking medical treatment even when it was free. We could spend
a lot of money treating all the problems that result, but I would rather spend
the money promoting healthy life choices. Let’s use all that money on
prevention and provide incentives and education to convince them to improve
their health choices, rather than wasting money on treatments for diseases they
never would have gotten if they had lived better.”
To what extent do you agree? According to the
account in this book, do poor families like the Banes have bad health because
of flaws in the American health care system, or because they simply make bad
health choices?
Looking back over this story, what lessons do
you draw about the American health care system? Why do you think the system is
at it is? How would you change it, if you were congress or the president?
Suggest one reform to improve the American
health care system. What is the best argument against your proposed reform?
What factors might affect its political feasibility? (Who would oppose it?)
Consider
the NASW Code of Ethics and your responsibility as a Social Worker to promote
social justice by affirming diversity, equity and inclusion.

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