Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach 5th Edition

This is less a book about the US healthcare system than a screed for the benefits of government provided healthcare in the name of "social justice."Here's an example of the "learning objectives" in Chapter 3: "To examine why the [US healthcare] system has been resistant to national health insurance reforms" and "To speculate on whether the era of socialized medicine has dawned in the United States." In both cases, of course, the implication is that there is something wrong with the US for not centrally planning health care.Among other highlights: there is a section on the failure of "market justice" [that means the authors attempt to label and criticize private healthcare provision], but no corresponding analysis of "social justice" provided healthcare, because governments have never demonstrated any failures of any type, particularly when allocating scare resources. Further, social justice requires "collective responsibility for health," and "community well-being supersedes that of the individual." Got it, comrades?If you were bored, you could go through the book chapter by chapter, noting how everything from health to the provision of care is defined in such as way as to make the reader cry out for the great coordinating hand of a socialist government to remove all pain and social inequality while bringing the wisdom of central planning to our health choices.The fact that this book is required in my school and that I will be forced to regurgitate this socialist trash for a good grade is a good indictment of the US university system: just repeat our socialist mantras, collect your A's and enjoy your new social standing as one of the "educated." What drivel.UPDATE: I did read the book. Ignore captain insult and judge for yourself if the authors don't build a case from the book's very beginning that "social justice" and continuing reference to socialized (sorry, national) health care systems are not being discussed as ways to improve America's health care system. Among the little nuggets in the book is one about the "maldistribution" of health care workers, both in terms of specializations and locations within the country. Their solution? (Here's a hint, the government might have to have more say in where you work and what speciality you can work in, if we're to solve that "problem.") If defining the current state as a problem that can best be solved by the coordinating hand of government isn't lefty, then most likely nothing short of Karl Marx is to some people.

My book came used in very good condition and arrived earlier than the expected date. I like the material because it is useful, relevant and recent. Yet at the same time the book is a thick read. Lots of information packed into each paragraph.

This book is very dry with numerous terms to learn, but it does a good job explaining a complex issue. I've learned more by reading the book and answering the review questions than my professor has taught me.

It is a text book, so its not the greatest light reading. The bias in insane! I totally align with the bias, so I do not mind, but some people have found it less agreeable.

got this for a class on the US health care system. very well presented book on the topic that gives a good background on the way the system is set up and it's strengths and weaknesses

I was pleasantly surprised how well this book was laid out. It was easy to read and organized in a clear manner, that is hard to find in a lot of health care books. The only downside is that it is slightly out of date now, but only by a year. I also purchased this used and it looked brand new!

I don't know if it was just the source I bought my book from, but my version of this book was full of typos. The text itself was fine, but the figures, tables, and graphs all were chock full of typos.On a related note, the authors don't do a very good job at hiding their political bias when speaking about the Affordable Care Act. I got tired of reading on and on about how it happened behind closed doors in a shady manner. Blasting Democrats left and right. Aren't textbooks supposed to be unbiased?

N/A