Ideas for introducing the topic of health care reform:

• Before beginning the health care lessons, ask students to write down five health related headlines over the course of a week and bring them to class. Call on student volunteers to read their headlines. What health related issues are in the news? What are people most concerned about? Ask students to share what they know about health care reform – what are the current challenges facing the American health care system?
• Read the introduction (Part I) to the Miller Center white paper: The Right to Health Care and The Role of Government in Health Policy as a class. Outline the current challenges facing the American health care system.
• Use the Just The Facts chart from Yes! Magazine’s health care issue to give students an overview of the health care reform debate. Why does America spend more per capita on health care then any other nation, but still rank 28th in life expectancy? Why are insurance premiums rising so quickly? How can we cap health care spending? Is universal health insurance a tenable option in the United States? Outline the current challenges facing the American health care system.

Lesson One – An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure -- Detailed Procedures
Rising rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and skyrocketing costs of accompanying treatments suggest that the debate about health care reform requires a thoughtful examination of the factors that contribute to health and disease so that healthy behaviors can be promoted and chronic disease reduced and prevented.

            Activities:

• Interpret research findings about the cost of chronic disease
• Make a photo collage of healthy and unhealthy behaviors
• Class discussion about health care reform and chronic disease

Lesson Two – Health Insurance Overview -- Detailed Procedures
Though most students are currently covered under their parent’s health insurance plans, many will soon secure jobs and health benefits of their own. Before students can engage in meaningful debate about the challenges and benefits of the current health care system, they must understand its jargon and structure. This lesson provides students with the opportunity to analyze and compare a variety of health care plans in order to increase their familiarity with the terms and concepts used in the health care debate.

            Activities:

• Vocabulary Builder
• Basic overview of health insurance (teacher lecture)
• Health care on Minimum Wage Teacher’s Guide & Worksheet
• Understanding Health Benefits worksheet and group work

Lesson Three – Health Care Interviews -- Detailed Procedures
Despite some attempts to personalize the health care debate, people’s individual stories tend to get lost among politically charged reform plans and complex jargon. Interviews allow students to hear local perspectives on the health care debate and put a personal face on a national issue.

            Activities:

• Health care Interviews
• Compare class findings to national polls
• Class discussion about interviews

Lesson Four – Health Care: A Right or a Privilege? -- Detailed Procedures
In recent national polls and surveys, many people have indicated that they would like some form of universal basic health care. What constitutes basic health care? If basic health care is a right, what responsibilities accompany that right? With treatment costs for chronic diseases continuing to rise, does the government have a right to ban unhealthy behaviors such as smoking in exchange for basic coverage? What would universal health insurance look like in the United States?

            Activities:

• Right vs. Privilege scenarios and discussion
• Comparing the U.S. health system to other nations
• Regulating Health handout
• Health care Reform worksheet

Lesson Five – Dueling Presidential Proposals -- Detailed Procedures
Students will discuss the liberal and conservative approaches to health care reform and compare the proposals of the 2008 presidential candidates.

            Activities:

• 2008 Health care Buzzwords
• Comparing liberal and conservative viewpoints on health care reform
• Analyzing presidential candidate proposals

Lesson Six – Health Care Student Debate -- Detailed Procedures
Students will debate the Miller Center resolution: “Health care is a fundamental right; the government has an obligation to secure this right for all Americans."

            Activities:

• Student Debate Guide
• Debate

• Invite members of the community who are involved in health care to speak to the class about health care reform.
• For more information and lesson ideas about Medicare and Medicaid, use the PBS NOW lesson plan: http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/medicare.html#sites
• For more information and lessons about the uninsured and underinsured in America, use the Online NewsHour Health Beat in-depth coverage:
  “The Uninsured In America.” www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/health/uninsured/
• Brainstorm student proposals for increasing healthy behaviors at the community level. Research ways students can help to implement some of the proposals. Share what your students are doing with PBS Online NewsHour and the Miller Center.
• Ask students to record how many pharmaceutical commercials they see during one hour of television. How do pharmaceutical commercials impact the current American health care system? How might pharmaceutical commercials impact the cost of insurance premiums? How do pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists shape the American model of health care?
• Healthy eating habits contribute to strong overall health, while unhealthy eating contributes to the development of chronic diseases. What factors impact American eating habits? What can Americans do to promote healthy eating? Is healthy eating a matter of income and access, and if so, how can Americans help equalize the amount of healthy food available to all? How do corn subsidies and the Farm Bill impact American eating habits, and by extension, the health care system? Does health care reform also require reforming the food and agricultural industries?
• Environmental pollutants also affect health. Research the environmental factors that impact people’s health. How can Americans help decrease exposure to environmental pollutants? Will saving the environment save medical costs as well?

Taken from: www.mcrel.org

CIVICS STANDARDS
1. Understands ideas about civic life, politics, and government  
2. Understands the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited governments
14. Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life
19. Understands what is meant by "the public agenda," how it is set, and how it is influenced by public opinion and the media  
20. Understands the roles of political parties, campaigns, elections, and associations and groups in American politics  
21. Understands the formation and implementation of public policy
25. Understands issues regarding personal, political, and economic rights  
26. Understands issues regarding the proper scope and limits of rights and the relationships among personal, political, and economic rights

HEALTH STANDARDS
1. Knows the availability and effective use of health services, products, and information  
2. Knows environmental and external factors that affect individual and community health
6. Understands essential concepts about nutrition and diet
7. Knows how to maintain and promote personal health 

THINKING AND REASONING STANDARDS
1. Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument  
2. Understands and applies basic principles of logic and reasoning  
3. Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences

Background:

More than 47 million Americans were uninsured in 2008, according to data from the United States Census Bureau. That all-time high came as more individuals and employers decided that they could no longer afford health insurance premiums.

Following the "a picture is worth a thousand words" adage, this activity engages students in learning about the problems of the uninsured in America and asks: who are the uninsured; why are they uninsured; what problems do they face; and what are some possible solutions to those problems.   Materials Needed:

• Large pieces of cardboard or large sheets of newspaper print or butcher paper.
• Markers
• Internet access, including the Online NewsHour's The Uninsured in America:
  www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/health/uninsured/index.html
• Insurance survey
• Chalk or whiteboard markers 

Procedure:

1. Assign as homework the student/adult Insurance Survey. Students should attempt to interview as many people as possible, with a minimum of three. Ask students to share some of the responses to the survey with their classmates. What surprised them? What did they learn from the survey? Did they see any problems that they hadn't thought of before?

2. With the survey projected from the overhead, or written on a blackboard, ask a student to tally class responses to the survey questions.

3. Explain that students will be exploring a growing problem in American that affects each of us, and the problem is explored in the Online NewsHour site Uninsured in America.

4. Ask students the following questions:

1. Who do you think the uninsured might be?
   b. Are they working?
   c. Unemployed?
   d. Poor?
   e. Adults?
   f. Children?
   g. Why do students think these people are uninsured?
   h. Are there currently any programs to assist the uninsured?
   i. How do the problems of the uninsured affect us as a society as well as individuals.

5. Students will work in six groups to create posters or life-size cutouts depicting the topic of the uninsured in America. They should use Internet and other resources for their research. The group topics:

1. an adult profile of the uninsured
   b. an uninsured child's profile
   c. a profile of programs designed to help the uninsured
   d. a profile depicting problems facing those responsible for administering programs for the uninsured
   e. a profile of possible solutions to the uninsured problem in America
   f. a profile depicting the fears or worries confronting the uninsured

6. Each group will also generate five multiple choice questions about their cutout to be used as part of a student-generated written test after all the presentations.

More health lesson plans from PBS Teachers

Correlation to National Health Standards: 

NPH-H.9-12.2 HEALTH INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
NPH-H.9-12.4 INFLUENCES ON HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.5 USING COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO
PROMOTE HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.1 HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE
PREVENTION
NPH-H.9-12.2 HEALTH INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
NPH-H.9-12.3 REDUCING HEALTH RISKS
NPH-H.9-12.4 INFLUENCES ON HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.5 USING COMMUNICATION SKILLS TO
PROMOTE HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.6 SETTING GOALS FOR GOOD HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.7 HEALTH ADVOCACY
NPH-H.9-12.6 SETTING GOALS FOR GOOD HEALTH
NPH-H.9-12.7 HEALTH ADVOCACY