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Full-Text Articles in Critical and Cultural Studies
Consumer Subjectivity And Us Healthcare Reform, Emily West
Consumer Subjectivity And Us Healthcare Reform, Emily West
Emily E. West
Health care consumerism is an important frame in US health care policy, especially in recent media and policy discourse about federal health care reform. This paper reports on qualitative fieldwork with health care users to find out how people interpret and make sense of the identity of “health care consumer.” It proposes that while the term consumer is normally understood as a descriptive label for users who purchase health care and insurance services, it should actually be understood as a metaphor, carrying with it a host of associations that shape US health care policy debates in particular ways. Based on …
The Racialization Of Us Health Care Reform: The Case Of Gold-Plated Cadillac Health Plans, Emily West
The Racialization Of Us Health Care Reform: The Case Of Gold-Plated Cadillac Health Plans, Emily West
Emily E. West
The term “gold-plated Cadillac health plans” became nationally prominent during John McCain’s run for President in 2008, and high-premium insurance plans continue to be called “Cadillac plans” today. The metaphorical phrase “gold-plated Cadillac” defines health care as a consumer and even a luxury good; implies that owners of these plans are irresponsible, wasteful healthcare consumers; and evokes the stereotype of an “out-of-control” African American consumer. The history of the Cadillac brand and of gold-plated Cadillacs in particular in popular culture demonstrates the salience of these associations. The use of this phrase in recent health care reform debates is considered in …
Mediating Citizenship Through The Lens Of Consumerism: Frames In The American Medicare Reform Debates Of 2003-2004, Emily West
Emily E. West
Access to health care is an issue that challenges the imagined boundary between being a ‘consumer’ and being a ‘citizen’. This is especially true in the United States where market-based solutions to providing health care have historically been favored over care organized through government. In the recent debate over how to organize prescription drug coverage for seniors in the United States, stakeholders quoted in the press were more likely to position health care as a consumer issue rather than as an issue of basic rights that accompany citizenship. As scholars such as Lizabeth Cohen (2003) have illustrated, being a ‘consumer’ …
Scolding John Q.: Articulating A Normative Relationship Between Politics And Entertainment, Emily West
Scolding John Q.: Articulating A Normative Relationship Between Politics And Entertainment, Emily West
Emily E. West
The 2002 hostage drama John Q. triggered a discussion among journalists, the public, and the policy community about the proper relationship between politics and entertainment. In this debate the criteria for good journalism and good political discourse were frequently invoked to evaluate this Hollywood film. This discussion, which spilled out of the film criticism pages into news and commentary pages, shows how public sphere models of political discourse are privileged even though they may not be a good fit for fictional media. John Q.’s success in triggering public discussion and awareness about health policy issues seems to illustrate DeLuca & …