Research #1

1. Cutler, David M. and Zeckhauser, Richard J. Handbook of Health Economics, Volume 1. Elsevier Science, 2000.

(I could not find the city where it was published)

Pages 576-577: Moral hazard is essentially the difference in mindset when people know that they can buy something without paying in full. This applies to health care because people with health insurance will use the health care system more as long as it is covered under their insurance. They also may not take care of themselves quite as well because they know that they can just go to the doctor. On the other hand, somebody without insurance may want to take very good care of themselves to make sure that they don't have to pay for medical care. People with insurance will portray overall riskier behavior.

"Optimal insurance plans would pay for treatment only if the individual would have

chosen the same treatment had he borne the full bill"

Page 607: Adverse selection is essentially the differences in insurance costs and options. This becomes a problem because sick people that need more insurance will have to buy more generous plans, causing healthier people to avoid these risky plans. Also, healthy people may not feel the need for insurance. This means that the only people buying insurance are the people that are the most costly to insure.

2. Barnett, Randy E. "Is Health-Care Reform Constitutional?" The Washington Post, 21 March. 2010. Web. 3 March. 2011.

-9th and 10th Amendments

-Commerce Clause

-"...never before has it (Congress) used its commerce power to mandate that an individual person engage in an economic transaction with a private company."

John Q

The scene in which Ms. Payne and Dr. Turner were first telling the Archibalds that their son was very ill was a great example of rhetorical appeals.

First, there is of course pathos because everybody is sympathetic towards a family finding out that their loved one is fatally sick. The acting in this scene by both Denzel Washington and Kimberly Elise was sensational. They captured not only their love and concern for their son, but also a seemingly real love for each other.

Second, there is ethos. Dr. Turner shows his competence as a heart surgeon through his use of medical jargon as if it is common terminology. With this, he also shows a lack of initial compassion towards the Archibalds' predicament because he does not even want to take the time to explain exactly what is going on in their son's body.

Finally, the writers used logos to try to show how conniving Ms. Payne was. She makes the argument that they should let their son die without surgery because the surgery could kill him. In no way does this make sense because if they do nothing he essentially has a 0% chance of surviving, and only through surgery do these odds increase. She was trying to outsmart the humble parents into not trying to have the expensive surgery.

This whole movie used the rhetorical appeals to make the audience feel strong emotions throughout. I felt angry at the system, which made me excited to write my paper on health insurance.