Full Description
This AJN award-winning textbook helps readers understand and critically assess the U.S. health care system and policies. With a focus on the prevalence of disparities in health and health care, the book reviews the historical evolution and organization of our health care system. Several social justice theories are used to critically evaluate current U.S. health care systems and policies, providing readers with various perspectives of the field. Extensive coverage of our health care system's structures, finances, and performance on a variety of population health indicators provides the necessary background, frameworks, and principles through which the adequacy of alternative health care system financing strategies can be analyzed.
Highlights include:
Analyzes the current U.S. health care system and policies from several social justice theories, providing a critical examination of the field.
Examines the historical evolvement of the U.S. health care system, its financing and health care delivery structures, and the prospects for health care reform.
Analyzes disparities in access to health and health care by race, ethnicity, class, age, gender, and geography.
Compares the U.S. health care system with that of other democracies, providing a unique comparative perspective.
New to This Edition:
Revised chapter on health care reform that considers the 2016 election and anticipated changes to the Affordable Care Act.
Provides the latest information on the financing and organization of the U.S. health care system.
Examines the nation's health care needs, the prevalence of health and health care disparities, and the latest theories that explain the causal origins of health and health care disparities.
Addresses the latest developments in health care policy domains such as long-term care, end-of-life care, and initiatives to reduce disparities in health.
Updated data on long-term financing and expenditures including baby boomers' increased demand for long-term services and expanded entitlements for the disabled.
Updated instructor's resources include for each chapter: chapter synopsis and learning objectives, ideas worth grasping, key terms and concepts, discussion questions, and writing assignments.
This book is an ideal text for graduate courses in health care policy or disparities in the U.S. health care system in schools of social work, public health, nursing, medicine, and public policy and administration.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. A Primer on Theories of Social Justice and Defining the Problem of Health Care
Defining the Problem of Social Justice
Alternative Theories of Social Justice
Concluding Comments: Alternative Theoretical Perspectives on "The Right to Health Care"
Notes
References
2. The Historical Evolvement of the U.S. Health Care System
Historical Evolvement of the Basic Components of the Health Care System: Hospitals, Doctors, Nurses, and Health Insurance
The Historical Evolvement of the Federal Government in Health Care
Concluding Comments: Prospects for Achieving Health Care Reform
Notes
References
3. The Contemporary Organization of Health Care: Health Care Finance
Health Care Expenditures
An Overview of Health Care System Finance—Employment-Based Health Insurance
An Overview of Health Care System Finance—Public Financing of Health Care
Concluding Comments: The Large Presence of Public Dollars in the Financing of Health Care
Notes
References
4. The Contemporary Organization of Health Care: Health Care Services and Utilization
The Mixed Public-Private Structure of the U.S. Health Care System
The Resources of the U.S. System: Facilities, Technology, and Human Resources
The Health Care System Safety Net
Concluding Comments: The Paradoxical Underachievement of the U.S. Health Care System
Notes
References
5. Long-Term Care of the Aged and Disabled
The Long-Term Care Services System
The Sustainability of Resources for Long-Term Care: Caregiving Labor and Public/Private Financing
Directions for Long-Term Financing Policy
Concluding Comments: A Social Justice Perspective on the Financing of Long-Term Care
Notes
References
6. Disparities in Health and Health Care
Conceptualizing Disparities in Health and Health Care
Measuring Disparities in Health and Health Care
Social Characteristics Associated With Disparities in Health and Health Care
Disparities in Health and Burden of Disease: General Findings
Concluding Comments: The Deep Roots of Disparities in Health Care
Notes
References
7. Social Epidemiology: Unraveling the Social Determinants of Disparities in Health
The Discipline of Social Epidemiology
The "Fundamental Social Causes" Hypothesis
Income Inequality as a Social Determinant of Health
Theoretical Debates Concerning Income Inequality Effects
Concluding Comments: Social Epidemiology as a Tool of Social Policy
Notes
References
8. Prospects for Just Health Care System Reform: A Political and Principled Analysis
The Social and Political Context of Health Care Reform
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Politics of the ACA "Repeal and Replace": Implications for the Social Right to Health Care
Concluding Comments: Toward a Progressive Vision of Universal Health Care
Notes
References
Glossary
Index
