Social Policy and Aging, Spring Semester 2022

Study Questions:

What is meant by the concept of tradeoffs? How are tradeoffs useful for thinking about social policy in general? What about social policy and aging?

Numeracy: What do we mean by confusion of the inverse?

Suppose you have a very accurate diagnostic test, meaning the probability of a positive test for someone who has the disease is high and the probability of a negative test for someone who doesn’t have the disease is also high. What can you conclude about the probability that someone has the disease if they test positive? How does disease prevalence factor into your assessment?

How do we define age and old age in policy?

How does an aging population affect policy? How does policy affect aging?

What dilemmas or value constructs do we consider in aging policy?

What do the three branches of the federal government do? Who leads them?

What are the differences between politics and policy?

What’s the difference between macro, mezzo, and micro policy?

What are checks and balances?

Explain Birkland’s Stages Model of the Policy Process?

What makes a problem a public problem? Give an example.

What is a policy window of opportunity?

What’s an agenda? How does agenda setting work? How do issues reach agendas?

Define Baby Boomers and Their Ages in 2030 and 2050. Why do we care?

What were the Great Society reforms?

What programs that we have discussed this semester were part of the Great Society reforms?

What is the Older Americans Act?

When was it passed?

What other big social policy programs were passed at the same time?

Who is served by the OAA? How are they served?

What is federalism? How does federalism work?

What is an entitlement program?

How do entitlement/mandatory programs impact the federal budget? Are they a small or large share of the budget?

What are some examples of entitlement programs?

Why do people value insurance? What does it do?

In what cases do people not value insurance?

What is moral hazard in insurance?

What is ex-post vs. ex-ante moral hazard?

How do insurance plans try to manage moral hazard?

What is adverse selection in insurance?

How does adverse selection affect the functioning of insurance markets?

How do insurance plans try to manage adverse selection?

What is social insurance?

Why do governments often intervene in insurance markets? What is the primary rationale for government intervention in insurance markets?

What are the 3 broad types of health care system models commonly seen in industrialized countries?

What characterizes the US health care system?

What is Medicaid?

Whom does it serve?

Why/how is Medicaid relevant for seniors?

How was the Medicaid program affected by the ACA?

In what key ways does Medicaid differ from private health insurance?

What are some potential issues with this program?

What is Medicare?

Whom does it serve?

What is the difference between traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage?

How does Medicare manage adverse selection?

What are potential issues with these programs?

What are the three broad goals of the ACA?

How did the ACA affect public vs. private health insurance?

How does the ACA try to mitigate adverse selection in private insurance? What is the three-legged stool of health care reform?

What is Social Security?

What is the government’s reason for running this program?

Who does the program serve?

What does pay as you go mean?

How has the program changed over time?

What are potential issues with the program?

What are common approaches to reforming the program?

What is meant by “in the labor force” vs. “not in the labor force”? What does the unemployment rate capture? What are “discouraged workers”?

How have rates of “in the labor force” vs. “not in the labor force” changed among older workers over time?

What are some reasons these rates may have changed?

What is age discrimination in employment? Is there any evidence of age discrimination in employment?

What is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act?

How does an aging population affect the labor force? How is the labor market affected by an aging population?

What is retirement? How do we measure it?