Abstract
This issues-based reference work (available in both print and electronic formats)
shines a spotlight on health care policy and practice in the United States.
Impassioned debates about the best solutions to health care in America have
perennially erupted among politicians, scholars of public policy, medical
professionals, and the general public. The fight over the Health Care Reform Act
of 2009 brought to light a multitude of fears, challenges, obstacles, and
passions that often had the effect of complicating rather than clarifying the
debate. The discourse has never been more heated. The complex issues that
animate the health care debate have forced the American public to grapple with
the exigencies of the present system with regard to economic, fiscal, and
monetary policy, especially as they relate to philosophical, often ideologically
driven approaches to the problem. Americans have also had to examine their ideas
about the relationship of the individual to and interaction with the state and
the varied social and cultural beliefs about what an American solution to the
problem of health care looks like. In light of the need to keep students,
researchers, and other interested readers informed and up-to-date on the issues
surrounding health care in the U.S., this volume uses introductory essays
followed by point/counterpoint articles to explore prominent and perennially
important debates, providing readers with views on multiple sides of this
complex issue.
The volume is divided into three sections, each with its own Section Editor:
Quality of Care Debates (Dr. Jennie Kronenfeld), Economic & Fiscal Debates
(Dr. Mark Zezza), and Political, Philosophical, & Legal Debates (Prof. Wendy
Parmet); Sections open with a Preface by the Section Editor to introduce the
broad theme at hand and provide historical underpinnings; Each Section holds 12
chapters addressing varied aspects of the broad theme of the section; Chapters
open with an objective, lead-in piece (or “headnote”) followed by a point
article and a counterpoint article; All pieces (headnote, point article,
counterpoint article) are signed; For each chapter, students are referred to
further readings, data sources, and other resources as a jumping-off spot for
further research and more in-depth exploration; Finally, the volume concludes
with a comprehensive index, and the electronic version of the book includes
search-and-browse features, as well as the ability to link to further readings
cited within chapters should they be available to the library in electronic
format