The Making of Health Policy. Upon what conceptions of distributive justice are the political arguments regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) constructed?

Abstract: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has been debated by both Republicans and Democrats. In spite of clearly expressed opinions, the normative ideas behind the arguments are not evident. My assumption is that the political agenda is normatively framed. Depending on what values a politician builds his or her conception of the world certain aspects of an issue are highlighted at the expense of others. My thesis aims at clarifying the underlying normative ideas of President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner. I have chosen Barack Obama as a representative of the Democratic Party and John Boehner as a representative of the Republican Party. At first I clarify the arguments in favor of and against PPACA through argumentation analysis. After that I conceptually compare these arguments with the ideal types of distributional justice according to John Rawls and Robert Nozick. My analysis shows that Obama closely resembles Rawls. Boehner positions himself between Rawls and Nozick. Boehner’s argumentation is perceived as less clear from a normative point of view, which opens for an interesting discussion regarding his resemblance with both Rawls and Nozick.