Issues in Health Policy is a collection of 12 recent articles from The CQ Researcher, a weekly policy report that brings into focus the often complicated and controversial issues on the public agenda. Readers interested in the policy process will find real-world examples that give flavor and detail to a variety of policy areas while showing how policy making at all levels of government - federal, state and local - affects people's lives and futures.
These selections are organized into three subject areas: Illness, Treatment, and Health Policy; Policy in a Managed Care Environment; and the Future of Health Policy. The articles were chosen with an eye toward exposing readers to a wide range of subjects, from the specific effects of illness and treatment to broader problems posed by health care delivery systems. The in-depth, objective and forward-looking reporting that characterizes these selections is designed to encourage discussion, to help readers think critically, and actively about these vital issues and to facilitate future research.