Putting Health Care on the National Agenda / Edition 2

by Arnold Birenbaum

Overview

This revised edition of Arnold Birenbaum's important book brings the work up to date through the end of 1994 and the close of the 103rd Congress. It offers a comprehensive, provocative, and completely new assessment of health care reform with a focus on financing and coverage. A fine primer…on the health care debate (JAMA), the book examines such topics as the changing doctor-patient relationship, the growth of managed care, the rise and decline of hospitals, American business and health benefits, and the uninsured in America. This new edition takes particular heed to the failure of health care reform in 1994.

In responding to the first edition, Victor Sidel, M.D., former president of the American Public Health Association, called it, "A wonderfully far-ranging, meticulously documented, insightfully analyzed and remarkably well written challenge to professionals, patients, and community members to work for effective change in a bizarre, expensive, inefficient, and often unresponsive medical care system."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275951641
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/27/1995
Edition description:	Revised and Updated
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

ARNOLD BIRENBAUM is Professor of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the author of 11 books.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
A System in Need of Direction
Dissatisfaction Widespread—Our Leaders Receive a Wake-Up Call
The Changing Relationship with Your Doctor
The Growth of Managed Care and the Backlash
The Challenge to Providers
The Rise and Decline of Hospitals
American Business and Health Benefits
The Uninsured, the Uninsurable, and the Fear of Falling
Current Needs
Vulnerable People
Long-Term Care
People with AIDS
The Right to Die
Caring for the Future
Northern Exposure: The Canadian Experiment
Taking Health Care Off the National Agenda—The Failure to Answer the Wake-Up Call
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Judith A. Cooksey, MD, MPH (University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health)
Description: This is a well-written book that offers an assessment of fundamental problems with the U.S. healthcare system and reviews options to address these.
Purpose: The purpose is to contribute to the healthcare reform debate that will continue past the failure of reform in 1994. It offers a thoughtful discussion of several critical issues — public dissatisfaction with costs and real or potential lack of access to care, changes in the doctor/patient relationship, and the impact of high health insurance costs on individuals and businesses. The special needs of vulnerable populations are discussed. Finally, options for change are presented with an overview of the Canadian system and a system of universal coverage, the author's preferred choice.
Audience: The book is written for the general reading public and would be useful to practicing health professionals as well as students. The author is a medical sociologist and healthcare policy analyst.
Features: The book is well organized and the narrative is presented in a thoughtful and easy to follow manner. The references are well chosen and timely.
Assessment: This book offers a well informed review and a reasoned perspective on many of the current healthcare reform issues. The author skillfully interprets results of research findings to illustrate points. The book will help explain the dynamics that led to the 1994 health reform effort and the reasons why this work must continue.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

This is a well-written book that offers an assessment of fundamental problems with the U.S. healthcare system and reviews options to address these. The purpose is to contribute to the healthcare reform debate that will continue past the failure of reform in 1994. It offers a thoughtful discussion of several critical issues -- public dissatisfaction with costs and real or potential lack of access to care, changes in the doctor/patient relationship, and the impact of high health insurance costs on individuals and businesses. The special needs of vulnerable populations are discussed. Finally, options for change are presented with an overview of the Canadian system and a system of universal coverage, the author's preferred choice. The book is written for the general reading public and would be useful to practicing health professionals as well as students. The author is a medical sociologist and healthcare policy analyst. The book is well organized and the narrative is presented in a thoughtful and easy to follow manner. The references are well chosen and timely. This book offers a well informed review and a reasoned perspective on many of the current healthcare reform issues. The author skillfully interprets results of research findings to illustrate points. The book will help explain the dynamics that led to the 1994 health reform effort and the reasons why this work must continue.

Judith A. Cooksey

The author, a medical sociologist and a health care policy analyst, continues the debate on the US health care system, concentrating on issues such as AIDS, the loss of insurance coverage and undertreatment of the uninsured, and unnecessary physician-initiated services. He discusses increased expenditures, efforts to contain them, and the consequences of cost control, and analyzes proposed programs to extend insurance coverage to the entire population. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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