부산대학교 도서관

U.S. states vary greatly on measures of health and the social determinants of health. This chapter explores the correlation of these stark differences with demographic factors such as race and ethnicity and with cultural factors such as religious identification. It demonstrates that states with the most vehement opposition to federal programs such as Medicaid receive the greatest federal subsidies. These differences are regional: people in the South are more likely to die young, less likely to have access to health insurance, and more likely to be opposed to abortion than their counterparts in the Northeast and the West Coast. These differences have implications for bioethics, such as whether medical aid in dying should be supported in a state where many residents lack access to minimally decent health care. They also have implications for the ethics of federalism such as whether better-off states should be expected to subsidize states that lack policies to improve access to care.