Health care High costs – why? High tech procedures Lack of incentive to control costs because no one entity pays medical bills (versus countries with national health care system)

Affordable Care Act 2010 (ACA/“Obamacare”) Most significant overhaul of Us healthcare system since Medicaid/Medicare passed in 1965 Medicare: for people over 65:entitlement program Medicaid: for poor folks: means-tested program Before: Truman, Clinton proposed national health care

Affordable Care Act/”Obamacare” provisions - Insurance companies can’t discriminate based on preexisting condition You can stay on your parent’s health care plan till you are 26 Large employers must provide health care for employees or pay fine Tax credits for people to buy health insurance and small business to cover employees

Environmental policy Environmental Protection Agency 1970: largest independent regulatory agency, runs most of US enviromental policy National Environmental Policy Act 1969: agencies must file environmental impact statements for proposed projects (eg: post offices, highways) Clean Air Act 1970: EPA tasked with overseeing quality of nation’s air (e.g. require reduction in automobile emissions)

Water Pollution Control Act 1972: clean up nation’s rivers and lakes –regulates point source pollution (places where pollutants can be dumped in water) but not water “runoff” from streets, farms, etc. Endangered Species Act 1973: federal government must protect species on list Superfund 1980: Fund created by Congress to clean up hazardous waste sites, run by EPA

Global warming Scientific consensus: earth warming rapidly due to burning of fossil fuels, will be 2-6 degrees warmer by 2100 (though detractors) Obama: proposed “cap and trade system” where gov’t sets mandatory cap on emissions of greenhouse gases. Congress didn’t support. President passed executive order to place limits on carbon emissions from power plants.