Discussions Equal Access to Health Care This discussion presents the opportunity for you to address the inequality of access to health care in the United States using moral and ethical reasoning. There is overwhelming evidence that social inequalities affect health outcomes. Many argue that lack of health care access due to poverty is a human rights concern in the United States that should be subject to public and social justice inquiry. As such, the Affordable Care Act was implemented to promote health equity. While there are some that have reported favorable outcomes with respect to health care access, others have reported unfavorable experiences. What is your perspective on the ethics of providing universal health care to all U.S. citizens, and how well do you think the Affordable Care Act has addressed this cause? Prepare an academically-informed post to address this question. In doing so, consider both the ethical and moral reasons for supporting the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and also a possible shortfall or problem with this policy. You may talk about your own experiences but must also use academic research to support your arguments. Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required resources and/or other scholarly sources, and properly cite any references in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Carefully review the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate this Discussion Thread. Food Justice/Food Deserts The purpose of this discussion is to offer you the opportunity to debate the issue of food justice and food deserts. Food deserts are significant issues in poorer neighborhoods in the United States. In many of these neighborhoods, the only access to food is through local convenience stores or fast food restaurants. This severely limits the options for the poor to have access to fresh, wholesome food and has been evidenced as a key reason for the obesity epidemic in the United States. This issue is encompassed in the overarching topic of food justice, which also highlights public access to genetically modified or organic foods and the issues of equal access to positive food options in light of public health and social inequality. Prepare and post a response to the following prompt: Read the Hilmers article, Neighborhood Disparities in Access to Healthy Foods and Their Effects on Environmental Justice. Assume that your town is a food desert and you would like to do something about it. Prepare an argument to present to your local town council that outlines an idea to offer healthy food options to your town. Use at least one ethical theory or perspective to support the moral or ethical reasoning for why this program should be implemented. Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required re.

1. Discussions
Equal Access to Health Care
This discussion presents the opportunity for you to address the
inequality of access to health care in the United States using
moral and ethical reasoning. There is overwhelming evidence
that social inequalities affect health outcomes. Many argue that
lack of health care access due to poverty is a human rights
concern in the United States that should be subject to public and
social justice inquiry. As such, the Affordable Care Act was
implemented to promote health equity. While there are some
that have reported favorable outcomes with respect to health
care access, others have reported unfavorable experiences.
What is your perspective on the ethics of providing universal
health care to all U.S. citizens, and how well do you think the
Affordable Care Act has addressed this cause? Prepare an
academically-informed post to address this question. In doing
so, consider both the ethical and moral reasons for supporting
the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and also a
possible shortfall or problem with this policy. You may talk
about your own experiences but must also use academic
research to support your arguments.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support
your claims with examples from the required resources and/or
other scholarly sources, and properly cite any references in
APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Respond
to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.
Carefully review the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for the
criteria that will be used to evaluate this Discussion Thread.
Food Justice/Food Deserts
The purpose of this discussion is to offer you the opportunity to

2. debate the issue of food justice and food deserts. Food deserts
are significant issues in poorer neighborhoods in the United
States. In many of these neighborhoods, the only access to food
is through local convenience stores or fast food restaurants.
This severely limits the options for the poor to have access to
fresh, wholesome food and has been evidenced as a key reason
for the obesity epidemic in the United States. This issue is
encompassed in the overarching topic of food justice, which
also highlights public access to genetically modified or organic
foods and the issues of equal access to positive food options in
light of public health and social inequality. Prepare and post a
response to the following prompt:
Read the Hilmers article, Neighborhood Disparities in Access to
Healthy Foods and Their Effects on Environmental Justice.
Assume that your town is a food desert and you would like to do
something about it. Prepare an argument to present to your local
town council that outlines an idea to offer healthy food options
to your town. Use at least one ethical theory or perspective to
support the moral or ethical reasoning for why this program
should be implemented.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support
your claims with examples from the required resources and/or
other scholarly sources, and properly cite any references in
APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Respond
to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7.
Required Resources
Text
· Mosser, K. (2013). Ethics and social responsibility (2nd ed.)
[Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
· Chapter 5: Ethics in Medicine
Article
· Hilmers, A., Hilmers, D. C., & Dave, J. (2012). Neighborhood
disparities in access to healthy foods and their effects on

3. environmental justice. American Journal Of Public Health,
102(9), 1644-1654. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300865
· The full-text version of this article can be accessed through
the EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. The
article pertains to environmental ethics and is intended to
support the Food Justice/Food Deserts—discussion this week.
Multimedia
· Emory University. (2011, May 2). Healthcare reform:
Overview of access to care and regulatory process [Video file].
Retrieved from https://youtu.be/lD0TBoKol6Q
· This element explains health care reform to the Equal Access
to Health Care—discussion this week, in which the ethics of
health access are discussed. This video has closed captioning
and a transcript.
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· PBS NewsHour. (2010, June 3). Mississippi ‘food deserts’ fuel
obesity epidemic [Video file]. Retrieved from
www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health-jan-june10-food_06-03/
· This video about the problems of obesity is intended to
support the Food Justice/Food Deserts—discussion this week.
The transcript is available on the landing page.
Accessibility statement does not exist.
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Classical Ethical Theories, a Supplemental Guide
For learners who want to delve into this issue further and
develop a deeper understanding of Classical Ethical Theories,
this optional learning supplement on Virtue Ethics may be
useful.