US Health Policy and Health Care Delivery: Doctors, Reformers, and Entrepreneurs

Synopsis

The Unique Composition And Configuration Of Doctors And Hospitals In The U.s. Is Leading To A Crisis In Primary Care Provision. There Are Significantly More Specialists Than Generalists And Many Community Hospitals And Outpatient Facilities Are Concentrated In Affluent Areas With High Rates Of Comprehensive Insurance Coverage. These Particular Features Present Difficult Challenges To Policymakers Seeking To Increase Access To Care. Carl F. Ameringer Shows Why The Road To Universal Healthcare Is Not Built On Universal Finance Alone. Policymakers In Other Countries Successfully Align Finance With Delivery To Achieve Better Access, Lower Costs, And Improved Population Health. This Book Explains How The U.s. Healthcare System Developed, And Why Efforts To Expand Insurance Coverage In The Absence Of Significant Changes To Delivery Could Make Things Worse-- Health Policy And Health Care Delivery -- The Scientific Practitioner, 1870-1918 -- Group Medical Practice And Group Insurance, 1919-1945 -- The Hospital As Community Health Center, 1946-1964 -- The Turn To Market Competition, 1965-1995 -- The Emergence Of Corporate Health Systems, 1996-2015. Carl F. Ameringer. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 123-172) And Index.