Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy

How do government and private interests shape the health policy process?

In this classic text, William G. Weissert and Carol S. Weissert describe how government and private interests help define health policy. Under the Obama administration, the federal government took a broadened role in setting health policy and insurance regulations. But the succeeding Trump administration and a Republican congress threatened to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its core tenets. Chronicling these recent important changes, Governing Health explores the political science theory behind this and other major shifts in national health policy.

In this thoroughly updated edition, the authors describe how party polarization, a virulent anti-government movement, populist presidential politics, and the demise of "regular order" in Congress shape and define a new approach to health policy. This revised edition also

• offers a comprehensive synthesis of Obamacare, touching on everything from Accountable Care and Pay for Performance to insurance industry reforms
• highlights the important role of social media in building opposition to universal coverage
• tracks passage of the new Medicare physician payment reform, MACRA
• analyzes presidential executive orders and administrative rulemaking in dismantling the Affordable Care Act
• examines the implications of Supreme Court decisions on Medicaid expansion and state health policy
• updates all statistics, charts, and tables

This new edition of a highly respected book guides readers toward a deep understanding of modern health policy's complexities. Drawing on compelling current examples, Governing Health is a timely and essential book.

William G. Weissert is a professor of political science at Florida State University and a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Carol S. Weissert is Collins Eminent Scholar and chair of Civic Education and Political Science at Florida State University.