Introduction to U.S. Health Policy: The Organization, Financing, and Delivery of Health Care in America - Softcover

Barr MD PhD, Donald A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1421402181 ISBN 13: 9781421402185

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Health care reform has dominated public discourse over the past several years, and the recent passage of the Affordable Care Act, rather than quell the rhetoric, has sparked even more debate. Donald A. Barr reviews the current structure of the American health care system, describing the historical and political contexts in which it developed and the core policy issues that continue to confront us today.

This comprehensive analysis introduces the various organizations and institutions that make the U.S. health care system work―or fail to work, as the case may be. A principal message of the book is the seeming paradox of the quality of health care in this country―on the one hand it is the best medical care system in the world, on the other it is one of the worst among developed countries because of how it is organized.

Barr introduces readers to broad cultural issues surrounding health care policy, such as access, affordability, and quality. He discusses specific elements of U.S. health care, including insurance, especially Medicare and Medicaid, the shift to for-profit managed care, the pharmaceutical industry, issues of long-term care, the plight of the uninsured, medical errors, and nursing shortages. The latest edition of this widely adopted text updates the description and discussion of key sectors of America’s health care system in light of the Affordable Care Act.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Provides a clear description of all key aspects of the health care system to make it easier for the reader to evaluate the potential impact of proposals for health care reform. Using case studies and simplified presentations of major issues, this book gives the reader an appreciation of the dilemma confronting policy makers, providers, and patients: how to balance cost, quality, and access. It examines specific health care organization aspects such as the medical profession, hospitals, managed care organizations, and government health care programs. It also discusses policy changes that have had major impacts on American health care in the past decade. For health care providers, policy makers, consumers and others interested in health care in the U.S.

About the Author

Donald A. Barr, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor at Stanford University in the Department of Pediatrics. He is the author of Questioning the Premedical Paradigm: Enhancing Diversity in the Medical Profession a Century after the Flexner Report and Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Health, both also published by Johns Hopkins.

Edition details

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1421402181
• ISBN 13: 9781421402185
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 376