ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses some of the challenges facing the American healthcare system. The Affordable Care Act increased access to affordable healthcare for millions of Americans and consequently the number of uninsured has declined significantly. The opioid epidemic in the United States is the latest in a string of such epidemics in US history. The face of the opioid epidemic has changed over the years; black Americans were severely affected by the opioid epidemic of the 1960s and 1970s when heroin addiction ravaged communities and was dominant in urban and large metropolitan areas of the country. Many state governments had begun to respond to the opioid epidemic long before the federal government acted. Healthcare plans and managed-care organization relies on Pharmacy Benefit Managers to manage the use of and payment for specialty drugs. Gene editing is a method used by scientists to change the DNA of organisms including plants, animals, and humans.
