Towards social justice: An analysis of health care reform efforts and the outcomes for individuals with disabilities

he public health community has witnessed and participated in a major health care reform debate. The loss of the Senate's super majority has stalled progress and possibly killed hope for reform. As of this writing, the outcome remains unclear. At least three possible outcomes can emerge. The House can pass the Senate's large comprehensive package “as is,” which seems unlikely. It can attempt to remove objectionable policy “pieces” and return a smaller bill to the Senate, subject to a mere simple majority through the reconciliation process, or Congress can fail to pass anything. Failure will signal the need to promote incremental health care reform. Both methods of reform present numerous health and disability policy innovations and steps towards social justice for people with disabilities. Failure opens the health and disability policy agenda for the future. This presentation analyzes the up-to-the-minute status of health care reform and the implications for people with disabilities. Should a bill pass, this paper will analyze the impact of disability policy in the final bill, the impact of disability policy not included in the final bill, and a disability-based health policy agenda for the future. Should Congress fail to pass a bill, this paper will analyze why the bill failed and its impact on the future of disability-based health policy as an element of social justice. Health policy concepts, such comparative effectiveness research, prevention, health information technology, health disparities, quality measures, reporting requirements, and the medical home will be analyzed within a disability policy context.