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Planning for an Aging Population: The Sustainability Conundrum
Get PDFBy 2030 more than one in four Americans will be 65 years of age or older. What role do city planning academics and practitioners play in planning for the inevitable and increasing aging of society? I examined original research and reviewed articles published in three major planning journals, reviewed the websites of ten Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) accredited planning programs, and evaluated the websites of the American Planning Association’s divisions and special interest groups to determine how each demonstrated or portrayed the value and importance of aging issues in planning scholarship, pedagogy, and practice. I found that these key pillars of the profession and discipline of planning give almost no attention to aging issues. I suggest that planners are fairly ignorant about older people and their needs, that there is substantial ageism and sexism in these discussions, and that planners face a conundrum because seniors often make important lifestyle decisions that defy a variety of planners’ sustainability objectives. These sweeping socio-demographic changes will not go away, however. Planners therefore must develop an arsenal of tools to help seniors safely and securely live in their communities, continuing to make valuable contributions to their family, friends, and community. If planners do not step up, the aging of society will likely overtake them and make much of what they do irrelevant
Are State Public Option Health Plans Worth It?
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the U.S. health care system\u27s reliance on private, employer-based health insurance. The crisis in health care access and affordability has increased support for a public option--the choice to purchase a state-initiated health plan with publicly determined rates. Congressional gridlock, however, may dim the chances for a federal public option. States have stepped into the policy vacuum, proposing forty-nine bills to establish state public options since 2010, including three that became law. This article provides a comprehensive survey and taxonomy of state public option proposals from 2010-2021, identifying three main models: (1) Medicaid Buy-In Public Options; (2) Marketplace-Based Public Options; and (3) Comprehensive Public Options. Though each model serves different policy goals and varies in scope, the defining aim of all public option plans is to improve access to affordable health coverage by applying public payment rates to the private insurance market. We seek to answer whether state public option plans are legally viable and “worth it” for states to pursue. The answer is yes to both, but, surprisingly, the degree of legal difficulty is inversely related to the scope of the plan\u27s reach--the broadest plans have fewer legal hurdles than narrower plans. Moreover, the policy effects increase with the scope of the plan and the robustness of the controls on provider payment rates. Public options with modest provider rate controls may have too little impact on affordability and costs, falling short of their defining goal of improving affordability. As a result, the legal and political difficulty of enacting such plans may not be worth it. State public option plans may be most effective when they cover a broad swath of the population and pursue robust provider rate controls. In short, for state public option plans to be worth it, bigger is better
Health Injustices Caused by Segregation and Housing
No full textCourtney Anderson, Associate Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, discusses health injustices caused by segregation and housing policies
Career Journey from Student Activist to Community Leader
No full textDázon Dixon Diallo, M.P.H, Founder and President of Sister Love, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), discusses her career journey from student activities to community leader on issues of sexual and reproductive justice
Anti-Eugenics Legacy of Bioethics
No full textOsagie Obasogie, the Haas Distinguished Chair and Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law with a joint appointment in the Joint Medical Program and School of Public Health, discusses the intersection between bioethics and eugenics historically and today
What’s in Your Glass? Whether Milk Labels Should be Based on Creation Process or End Product (Part I of III)
Get PDFThis blog series analyzes the product-versus-process debate of bio-identical dairy products through the lens of the cultured meat industry and proposes a framework for milk labeling regulation