Power, politics, and universal health care : the inside story of a century-long battle / Stuart Altman and David Shactman ; foreword by John Kerry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Altman, Stuart H.

Contributor:

Shactman, David.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medical policy--United States.

Medical policy.

United States.

Health care reform--United States.

Health care reform.

Health Care Reform--history.

Health Policy.

History, 20th Century.

History, 21st Century.

Politics.

Universal Health Insurance.

Medical Subjects:

Health Care Reform--history.

United States.

Health Policy.

History, 20th Century.

History, 21st Century.

Politics.

Universal Health Insurance.

Physical Description:

429 ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2011.

Summary:

Altman (Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis U.) has been involved in health care policy since the 1970s. In this book for general readers and for students and practitioners of health care policy, he traces the evolution of the country's health care system, from 1912 to Obama's controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The book is peppered with enough behind-the-scenes anecdotes on secret meetings and scandals to keep readers attentive through explanations of the political, policy, and economic issues that make health care reform so complex and so difficult to enact. Co-author Shactman worked with Altman for 11 years at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Pt. 1. The hard road to success : one hundred years of past failures. Nixon comes close : our plan looks like a slam dunk, but ends with just a dunk

Clinton chooses wrong : the colossal defeat of managed competition

The past foreshadows the present : early attempts with little success

pt. 2. Expanding health coverage piece by piece. The Hill-Burton program : how America's uninsured poor got a right to free hospital care

The three-layer cake : Lyndon Johnson, Wilbur Mills, and the epic battle to enact Medicare

Ooops! The brief life and death of Medicare catastrophic

Ted Kennedy and the Republican Congress : HIPAA and SCHIP add two more pieces to the puzzle

The unlikely saga of the Medicare prescription drug benefit

pt. 3. Why can't Americans afford their health care? The battle to control health care costs. Controlling health costs : many attempts but few successes

The last 20 years : health care spending keeps growing

pt. 4. Success at last! Obama develops his plan

Early players and done deals

Baucus, Grassley, and the gang of six

The summer of death panels

The speaker carries the day

The Senate and the Christmas Eve health bill

Success at last

How he did it : a political strategy learned from history

The future is cost control.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 395-406) and index.

ISBN:

9781616144562

1616144564

OCLC:

723034634