Television dramas tackle health care policy issues

Fictional television medical dramas regularly address many important national health care issues, such as patient's rights, managed care, the right to die, and racial disparities in health care, according to a July 16, 2002, news release from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. A study of the 2001-2002 television season also found, however, that other issues, such as prescription medication coverage for older adults and insurance coverage for uninsured people, were not featured on these shows.

The study found that an average of one scene per episode of television medical dramas dealt with a health care policy issue. The shows generally did not express a bias toward either side of an issue, with approximately half of the scenes presenting both sides of an issue. The other scenes were split evenly between scenes that favored the current policy on an issue and those that opposed it.

TV Medical Dramas Address Health Policy Issues, New Study Finds (news release, Washington, DC: The Henry J, Kaiser Family Foundation, July 16, 2002).

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