A Social Problem: Learning from a Health Care Scandal in Britain

Some sociologists have concluded that America is in a health care crisis. What many people don’t understand is that this crisis isn’t about quality of health care, but access to a health care system. In other words, the problem isn’t with the quality of treatment that people get, but whether everyone is actually getting treatment. Health care, especially the most advanced, may be largely limited to those that can afford it. In response to this problem, some people suggest we might want adopt a health care system similar to the ones France or Britain. Below is a CBS news video about a problem with the British approach. Watch the video and, if you like, respond to one or more of the discussion topics below:

1. Do you think the problem of providing health care described in this report is centered in access or quality? In what way does it vary from the major problems we have in the United States’ approach to health care?

2. Do you think a competitive capitalistic model (supplying health care as a commercial commodity not a human social service) could produce or avoid similar problems? What insights does this give you into foundational problems in supplying health care for most societies?