Main description:

Health policy in the United States has been shaped by the political, socioeconomic, and ideological environment, with important roles played by public and private actors, as well as institutional and individual entities, in designing the contemporary American healthcare system. Now in a fully updated fifth edition, this book gives expanded attention to pressing issues for our policymakers, including the aging American population, physician shortages, gene therapy, specialty drugs, and the opioid crisis. A new chapter has been added on the Trump administration's failed attempts at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act and subsequent attempts at undermining it via executive orders.

Authors Kant Patel and Mark Rushefsky address the key problems of healthcare cost, access, and quality through analyses of Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Health Administration, and other programs, and the ethical and cost implications of advances in healthcare technology. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and a comprehensive reference list. This textbook will be required reading for courses on health and healthcare policy, as well as all those interested in the ways in which American healthcare has evolved over time.

Contents:

Part I: Healthcare Politics and Policy

1. Healthcare Politics

2. Healthcare Policy in the United States

Part II: Government Health Programs

3. The Affordable Care Act: Stumbling Toward Universal Health Insurance?

4. Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program: Healthcare for the Poor and the Disabled

5. Medicare: Healthcare for the Elderly

6. Healthcare for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Veterans

Part III: Problems of the Healthare System

7. Falling Through the Safety Net: The Disadvantaged

8. The Problem of Rising Healthcare Costs and Spending

Part IV: Contemporary Challenges in American Healthcare

9. The Role of Biomedical Technology: The Beginning and the End of Life

10. Challenges Facing the American Healthcare System

Part V: The Continuing Struggle for Healthcare Reform in the United States

11. Healthcare Politics and Policy in America: Moving Toward Reform?