The Neoliberal Mind Set Shaping Health Care Reform Essay

McGregor (2001) explains that within the context of globalization, health care reform is occurring around the world. This paper explores the neoliberal mind set shaping health care reform in the UK, Canada, United States, Australia and New Zealand. Neoliberalism is comprised of three principles: individualism, free market via privatization and deregulation, and decentralization. After describing the nature of a health care system that is shaped by those embracing this mind set, an alternative approach is introduced that could bring dignity and a human face to health care. The basic premise of the paper is that we must broaden our analysis of health care by understanding and challenging the neoliberal mind set. (McGregor ,2001) Governments have been pursuing policies that increase the profitability of the corporate sector rather than reinvesting in people and communities. Public services (e.g., health care) are seen merely as products to be sold which the private sector can deliver better. Citizens are consumers who should have the choice to buy the best health products they can afford. Individuals, not governments, communities or families, are the defining unit of society. And, from a neoliberal mind set, this position makes complete sense - the logic is clean and irrefutable. There is no place for government if business can do it better. White clearly explains, from a neoliberal perspective, that governing the social (including health care) is too expensive; instead, weShow MoreRelatedNew World Order in Conspiracy Theory13987 Words   |  56 PagesAge * 2.8  Fourth Reich * 2.9  Alien Invasion * 2.10  Brave New World * 3  Postulated implementations * 3.1  Gradualism * 3.2  Coup dà ©tat * 3.3  Mass surveillance * 3.4  Occultism * 3.5  Population control * 3.6  Mind control * 4  Alleged conspirators * 5  Criticism * 6  Literature * 7  In popular culture * 8  References | ------------------------------------------------- History of the term During the 20th century, many  statesmen, such as  Woodrow Wilson  and  WinstonRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesSandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Allen Hunter, ed.,