Research Catalog

Curing the crisis : options for America's health care

Title: Curing the crisis : options for America's health care / Michael D. Reagan.
Author: Reagan, Michael D.
Publication: Boulder : Westview Press, 1992.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	RA410.53 .R38 1992	Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 196 pages; 24 cm

Summary

With private health insurance costs averaging over $300 per month, per person - and with 36 million Americans lacking coverage of any sort - it is easy to understand why health care has captured the public imagination as the domestic policy issue of the 1990s. Americans spend well over $800 billion a year on health care, yet we are neglecting basic medical attention - like shots and checkups - for our neediest citizens, including over 8 million children. The American health care "system," if we can call it that, is a costly, bewildering array of acronyms, institutions, people, and procedures that will probably become even more confusing before it gains some clarity. Curing the Crisis is the book to read to get a brief but comprehensive picture of the issues - without wading through a lot of technical jargon. In a short, readable, and objective presentation, Curing the Crisis offers insight into the following questions: What has happened to the availability and cost of health care in recent years, and what are current trends? What are the problems with our current health care system, and why do so many Americans lack health insurance despite our spending more per person on health care than any other country? What major proposals for health care reform aim at making sure everyone is covered, and what are the pros and cons of each? What can we learn from health care systems in Canada, Great Britain, and Germany? What are the major proposals for reducing the rate of cost inflation in health care, and how are medical professionals and economists reacting to such plans? Without advocating any single plan, the author - a scholar and policy specialist - boldly outlines the features he considers essential to a medically, financially, and politically effective cure to the health care system's ailments. In addition to synthesizing and "translating" information from a wide variety of sources, he provides special feature boxes, health care vignettes, a glossary of terms, and case studies from all over the globe for an accessible and engaging presentation. Curing the Crisis is appropriate for a variety of readers who want to stay abreast of the issues in American health care that develop in the political arena as well as close to home.

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-179) and index.

Contents

pt. 1. A Snapshot of Health Care Delivery Today. 1. Perspectives and Perceptions. 2. The Changing Profile of U.S. Health Care. The System Today -- Box: HMOs, PPOs, EPOs, and Hybrids. Reversing Incentives: Don't Do More, Do Less. How the System Developed: A Hospital-Oriented Sketch. Cross Subsidies and the Loss of Community -- pt. 2. Understanding the Problems. 3. What Are the Problems? Access: Who Has It? Who Does Not? -- Box: Lack of Care from Coast to Coast. Health Care Leads the Inflation Index. We, the People, Expect Better Health Care. 4. What's Causing the Problems? How a Market System Works: No Insurance, No Access. Why Do Costs Rise So Much, So Fast? High-Tech: Its Use, Abuse, and Costs. Payment Perversities and Moral Hazard. The Changing Picture of Incentives. Where Are the Levers of Budgetary Control? -- pt. 3. What Are the Options? 5. How Do We Get Coverage for Everyone? The Red Herring of Socialized Medicine. What Is the Range of Options? The NHS Concept and Its British Version. NHI: The Canadian Case. NHI: A Physician-sponsored Plan. UHI: The German Version. UHI: The Play-or-Pay Approach. The Mandate Approach. Making Private Insurance More Accessible. The Privatized, Individualized Approach. 6. Cutting Costs: Piecemeal Approaches. The Economic Model -- and Its Dangers. The Medical Model: Making the Practice of Medicine More (Cost) Effective. 7. Cutting Costs: Overall Approaches. Patients and Doctors -- Box: Improving the Doctor-Patient Relationship. Capacity Constraints and Health Care Rationing -- pt. 4. Components of an Achievable Better System. 8. Elements for an Optimal Health Care Plan. The Givens of Reform -- Box: How Much Change is the Public Ready For? Elements of an Optimal Plan -- Box: Preserving Pluralism. Encourage Professionalism, Discourage Micromanagement. Plan A, Plan B. Time for Action, Time for Leadership.

ISBN

0813381797
9780813381794
0813381800
9780813381800

LCCN

92015706

OCLC

ocm25787060
25787060
SCSB-1962673

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library