http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/health-policy Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 06 May 2026 04:02:13 -0400 Wed, 06 May 2026 04:02:13 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1946/an-assessment-of-the-origins-and-culpability-of-the-opioid-crisis-in-the-united-states By Connor D. Catalani - The use of synthetic opioids in the United States in the past 30 years has created an epidemic the likes of which our healthcare and law enforcement systems have never before encountered. Although some opioid analogs, like fentanyl, were developed with the intention of managing chronic pain, these potent drugs have, through their addictive qualities, trapped millions of Americans in a deadly cycle of dependency. This review addresses the major routes by which synthetic opioids are illegally shipped into the United States, where they are then sold to theAmerican public. By examining the origins... Fri, 11 Mar 2022 03:02 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1946/an-assessment-of-the-origins-and-culpability-of-the-opioid-crisis-in-the-united-states http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1889/single-payer-reform-and-rural-health-in-the-united-states-lessons-from-our-northern-neighbor By Jared M. Hirschfield - Single-payer health reform has secured its place in the mainstream American health policy debate, yet its implications for particular subpopulations or sectors of care remain understudied. Amidst many unanswered questions from policymakers and political pundits, rural health has emerged as one such area. This article explores rural Canada’s five-decade-long experience with a national publicly funded health insurance program as a valuable opportunity for cross-national learning. During March 2020, I conducted 13 semi-structured, elite stakeholder interviews with government officials, academic... Mon, 15 Mar 2021 02:29 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1889/single-payer-reform-and-rural-health-in-the-united-states-lessons-from-our-northern-neighbor http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1746/is-medical-debt-a-social-determinant-of-health By Vikrant Bhatnagar - Medical Debt has largely been viewed as a financial burden. While studies have linked Medical Debt to decreased savings, reduced health access, foreclosure of homes, and loss of income, there has been little to no research exploring Medical Debt’s effect as a social determinant of health. While Medicaid expansion via the Affordable Care Act has decreased overall Medical Debt, data on this phenomenon fails to adequately address the broader issue: the need to isolate statistically Medical Debt’s association with patient access to care. A sensible first step to explore this phenomenon... Tue, 30 Oct 2018 09:51 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1746/is-medical-debt-a-social-determinant-of-health http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1743/can-the-value-proposition-work-in-health-care By Frederick J. White - The value proposition in the commercial setting is the functional relationship of quality and price. It is held to be a utility maximizing function of the relationship between buyer and seller. Its proponents assert that translation of the value proposition into the health care system of the United States is a necessary and perhaps indispensable solution to the current structural difficulties of health services delivery in our nation. But the application of the value proposition to health care delivery in the United States will meet with difficulty for a myriad of reasons. Some of these are inherent... Wed, 24 Oct 2018 08:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1743/can-the-value-proposition-work-in-health-care http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1448/do-healthcare-systems-discriminate-a-comparative-policy-analysis-of-health-inequality-in-the-united-states-and-united-kingdom By Sarah E. Rudasill - This comparative analysis of U.S. and U.K. healthcare systems pinpoints inequalities in health outcomes and recommends policies to alleviate disparities. Mortality data from the CDC'S WONDER Database and Cancer Research U.K. were used to analyze two gendered conditions – female breast cancer and male prostate cancer– for mortality rates and relative mortality ratios by region, race, and socioeconomic status. The data indicate that although the United States outperforms the United Kingdom in overall mortality rates for breast and prostate cancers, outcomes for U.S. Black residents are... Tue, 31 May 2016 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1448/do-healthcare-systems-discriminate-a-comparative-policy-analysis-of-health-inequality-in-the-united-states-and-united-kingdom http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1577/effects-of-cultural-factors-on-aids-epidemics-in-sub-saharan-african-countries-from-2005-2010 By Lee Walter - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has ravaged sub-Saharan Africa in the decades since its first recorded case. The disease has reached epidemic levels in many regions, with millions of new cases diagnosed each year. This paper examines the effects of several variables on the infection rates of AIDS in six African countries across six years and tests the hypothesis that widespread misconceptions surrounding AIDS, e.g. the misconceptions that AIDS can be cured by intercourse with a virgin and that AIDS can only be transmitted among homosexuals, affects AIDS rates more than other variables... Thu, 31 Dec 2015 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1577/effects-of-cultural-factors-on-aids-epidemics-in-sub-saharan-african-countries-from-2005-2010 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1299/the-danger-of-sitting-down-a-summary-of-the-health-risks-of-excessive-sedentary-behavior By Ronan C. Talty - Excessive sedentary behavior (defined as waking time spent sitting, reclining, or lying down) represents an increasingly noteworthy global health risk, particularly for individuals whose professions require long hours spent sitting at a desk. Despite the undeniable associations between sedentary time and several diseases, few existing health initiatives – from the company to governmental level – address this issue with any substance. This paper resolves present literature regarding the health detriments linked to exorbitant sedentary behavior. It then explores potential alterations... Sun, 08 Nov 2015 05:33 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1299/the-danger-of-sitting-down-a-summary-of-the-health-risks-of-excessive-sedentary-behavior http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/979/comparing-health-systems-and-challenges-in-costa-rica-and-the-united-states By Sarah E. Rudasill - Rising rates of chronic diseases, aging populations, and mounting medical costs threaten the financial solvency of the health care systems of the United States and Costa Rica. Despite ranking 1st in health expenditures, the United States achieves the same health outcomes as Costa Rica, a country that ranks 50th in expenditures. As a result, the United States is transitioning to Costa Rica’s model of government-sponsored care in an effort to reduce costs just as Costa Rica begins shifting away from centralization of medical care in an effort to improve quality. However, many of the fiscal... Sun, 01 Feb 2015 02:30 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/979/comparing-health-systems-and-challenges-in-costa-rica-and-the-united-states http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/895/prescription-drug-monitoring-programs-to-curb-prescription-drug-abuse-examining-the-components-of-program-efficacy By Joshua J. Timmons - In the American healthcare system there have been few trends as persistent, yet avoidable, as the rise in prescription drug overdoses. Between 1999 and 2008 prescription overdoses quadrupled to nearly twenty thousand per year (Paulozzi, Jones, Mack, & Rudd, 2011). It is estimated that nearly six million Americans are abusing or misusing prescription drugs in any given year, and nonmedical prescription use remains one of the most common forms of illicit substance abuse among young adults, second only to cannabis use (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2012).... Mon, 05 May 2014 12:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/895/prescription-drug-monitoring-programs-to-curb-prescription-drug-abuse-examining-the-components-of-program-efficacy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1622/the-hivaids-epidemic-in-the-deep-south By Andrew Menefee - This paper examines explanations for the current HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Deep South United States. The first set of explanations is categorized as social determinants of health and includes social and economic factors that influence public health care such as poverty rates, high school graduation rates, and existing health infrastructure in the region. The second set of explanations examines the influence of less visible barriers to health care, and includes studies related to shared communal narratives of conspiracy theories and stigma. The paper employs a quantitative analysis of social and... Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1622/the-hivaids-epidemic-in-the-deep-south