Unit22: "The Bitter Pill": The Healthcare System in the UK and in the US:
Intro:
Health is a burning issue which is seldom off the agenda in the developed world. It has long been troublesome for successive governments on both sides of the Atlantic. Focusing on the Covid fallout and the healthcare system in the US and in the UK, we will try and understand the problems both systems are plagued with.
Survival kit:
Download this file and add whatever you think is interesting.
Step1: The US Healthcare System...
- Main facts:
-Main facts to know about Obamacare (doc1b)
-Coursera: US Healthcare
-"Health Care Reform for Dummies" (abc)
-"Obamacare Summary : Summary of Obama's Health Care
Reform" (Obamacare Facts)
-"Health Care in the US: Overview" (USPolitics.about.com)
-"Health Reform Explained in less than 2 minutes"
-Mapping Uninsured Americans (New York Times)
- A few thought-provoking articles:
-"Obamacare: Call the Medic!" (The Economist)
-"Is Affordable Care Act really Affordable?" (USA
Today)
-"Health Care in America: an insider-outsider problem"
(The Economist)
-"Is this the first time the doctor actually get fixed?" (Washington Post)
... and the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK:
- Main facts:
-NHS History (nhshistory.net)
-NHS is crisis (The Guardian)
-"A humanitarian crisis in England?" (BBC News)
-medical tourism (The Guardian)
- A few thought-provoking articles:
-"NHS: National Health Shambles! (Daily Mail)
-"None of Us Deserve to die just because we get ill at the weekends" (The Independent)
-"'NHS: Our National Shame': British Society's neglect of its elderly" (The Independent, October 18, 2013)
Step2: The Covid fallout: cf Unit9
- Doc2a1: "Paying bills or buying masks: simple living with Covid is hitting Americans some hard" (NPR)
a document from last year:
"India overwhelmed by world's worst Covid crisis", BBC News --------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Step2 follow-up: A few other health-related issues:
- Elvi format:
Doc2b1: "World population just passed 8 billion. Here is what it means". (WHO)
Doc2b2: "The Silver Economy/ The Longevity Economy" (Iso.org)
extra facts here
Doc2b3 (Document1) : "Older, Wiser" (The Economist)
Doc2b4 (Document2) : "The age of the grandparent" (The Times)
Doc2b5: "Aging population" (CartoonMovement.com) ------------------>
Doc2b6: "Vieillissement de la population et hausse des dépenses publiques"
- Emerging trends in the health sector:
Doc2c1: e-health:
"How health 2.0 is revolutionizing healthcare" (The Economist)
telemedicine: link
Doc2c2: The psychedelic revolution: "The next big thing in mental health treatments? The psychedelic revolution" (USA Today)
- A few other topical health issues:
Euthanasia: link1
-Hunger crisis in the UK and in the US:
-Hunger crisis and food banks in the UK:
freegans: link
-Hunger crisis and food Stamps in the US:
the "FeedingAmerica" organization
War on poverty: link
Step3: Practice!
- Vocabulary quiz:
- Listening comprehension:
Practice on this video about the crisis of the NHS (BBC News).
Go further!
- General knowledge:
Welfare State (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Nanny State (Wikipedia)
Medical Tourism/Health Tourism (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
War on Poverty in the US: Washington Post
- Movies:
Sicko (2007)
John Q (2002)