Emerging Issues in the Politics of Public Health

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Across a variety of emerging policy topics, it is becoming increasingly clear that public health and politics are inexorably linked. This panel brings together research from junior scholars investigating these emerging health topics with critical consequences for health policy and politics. In response to recent preventable disease outbreaks and the growing anti-vax movement, Lunz-Trujillo et al. use politics and psychology to attempt to correct growing misinformation about vaccines – a key public health concern. In the panel’s second paper, Dr. Jarman builds on public health concern about growing tobacco use by young adults to investigate the policy diffusion of state efforts to enact ‘Tobacco 21’ policies. Willison et al. further emphasize connections between politics and public health, demonstrating links between partisanship, elite rhetoric, the media, and recent hurricane responses. Finally, Dr. Kelly investigates the growing use of managed care in Medicare and Medicaid – a key public health concern – and its implications for democratic accountability and the future of Medicare and Medicaid policy in the US. Combined, these papers highlight emerging areas of emphasis for public health policy and the critical role of politics in their development.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 48: Health Politics and Policy

Individual Presentations

• Identifying Strategies to Correct Misinformation about the MMR Vaccine - Kristin Kay Lunz Trujillo, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Timothy Herbert Callaghan, Texas A&M University; Steven Sylvester, University of Kansas; Matthew P. Motta, Oklahoma State University

• Assigning Responsibility, Accepting Blame: Implementing Tobacco 21 in the US - Holly Jarman, University of Michigan

• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? The Politics of Hurricane Response - Charley Willison, Harvard University; Phillip M. Singer, University of Utah; Scott L. Greer, University of Michigan

• Private Power in Public Programs: Managed Care in Medicare and Medicaid - Andrew S. Kelly, California State University, East Bay

Chair

• Colleen M. Grogan University of Chicago

Discussant

• Michael K. Gusmano The Hastings Center