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

ISBN: 1421402181

ISBN13: 9781421402185

Introduction to U.S. Health Policy

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Format: Paperback

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Book Overview

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.

Customer Reviews

2 ratings

The basics of understanding health care

In these days of intense debate over health care reform, this should be a non-fiction best-seller. Written as a textbook to inform medical students in the area of health policy, Dr. Barr integrates issues of culture, economics, and medicine in a highly readable overview of our current U.S. healthcare system. He illustrates a number of problems by contrasting the evolution of our healthcare system, and the strongly held political/cultural assumptions that underlie it, with the evolution and values underlying the Canadian system. He is realistic about the struggles of both systems. A number of U.S. practices and assumptions don't make for better medicine. This text goes a long way towards helping the reader understand the problems in ways that are necessary before tackling solutions. Dr. Barr offers several critical options (some implicit and others explicit) for improving U.S. health care.

health policy book

I ended up returning this book since I no longer needed it for my class. The seller was amazing in this process. I returned my book right away and got my refund in FULL right away. I had no problems asking the seller if I could return this book and without even mentioning if I can get a full refund, the seller replied my message and mentioned I would get a full refund once I return the book. Great service.
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