Term
| Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) |
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Definition
| Organizations contracted by individuals or insurace companies to provide health care for a yearly fee. Such network health plans limit the choice of doctors and treatments. About 60% of Americans are enrolled in HMOs or similar programs. |
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Term
| National health insurance |
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Definition
| A compulsory insurance program for all Americans that would have the government finance citizens' medical care. First proposed by President Harry S Truman, the plan had been soundly opposed by the American Medical Association |
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Term
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Definition
| A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other expenses. |
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Term
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Definition
| A public assistance program designed to provide health care for poor Americans. Medicaid is funded by both the states and the national government. |
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Term
| Environmental Protection Agency |
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Definition
| An agency of the federal government created in 1970 and charged with administering all the government's environmental legislation. It also administers policies dealing with toxic wastes. The EPA is the largest federal independent regulatory agency. |
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Term
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Definition
| The law that charged the Department of Transportation (DOT) with the responsibility of reducing automobile emissions. |
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Term
| Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 |
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Definition
| A law Congress created to control pollution of the nation's lakes and rivers. This law was enacted in response to the tremendous pollution of northeastern rivers and the Great Lakes. Highly effective. |
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Term
| Endangered Species Act of 1973 |
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Definition
| This law requires the federal government to protect actively each of the hundreds of species listed as endangered - regardless of the economic effect on the surrounding towns or region |
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Term
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Definition
| A fund created by Congress in the late 1970s and renewed in the 1980s to clean up hazardous waste sites. Money for the fund comes from taxing chemical products. |
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