Introduction to U. S. Health Policy: The Organization, Financing, and Delivery of Health Care in America » (second edition)

Donald A. Barr, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor of sociology and human biology at Stanford University and is the founder and director of Stanford's undergraduate health policy curriculum.

Home to the world's most advanced medical practices, the United States spends more on health care than any other country. At the same time, treatment is harder to get in the United States than in most other industrialized nations. Benchmark statistics such as infant mortality and life expectancy reveal a society that is not nearly as healthy as it could be.

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. It identifies historical, social, political, and economic forces that shape this system and create policy dilemmas that are all too familiar.

Donald A. Barr examines the structure of American health care and insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid. He addresses the shift to for-profit managed care and how it may affect the delivery of care; the pharmaceutical industry and the impact of pharmaceutical policy; issues of long-term care; and the plight of the uninsured. The new edition also covers recent developments in areas such as prescription drugs, medical errors, and nursing shortages.

Preface     vii
Health, Health Care, and the Market Economy     1
Health Care as a Reflection of Underlying Cultural Values and Institutions     20
The Health Professions and the Organization of Health Care     52
Health Insurance, HMOs, and the Managed Care Revolution     79
Medicare     113
Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program     144
The Increasing Role of For-Profit Health Care     166
Pharmaceutical Policy and the Rising Cost of Prescription Drugs     186
Long-Term Care     210
The Uninsured     224
Factors Other Than Health Insurance that Impede Access to Health Care     239
Key Policy Issues for Deciding the Direction of Health Care Reform     258
Where Do We Go from Here? Options for Health Care Reform     273
On-line Data Sources     287
References     291
Index     301