"This book provides an extensive and rich compilation of research on the role of public policy in the healthcare sector and how policy reform will impact the future of healthcare delivery and administration"--

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Foreword; Preface; Author; SECTION I: INDUSTRY DYSFUNCTION: ITS ROOT CAUSES AND EFFECTS; 1: It's Not the Future We Used to Have; The Old Future; The Curves of Health Care; The Root Causes of Industry Dysfunction; The Economic Human and the...

section 1. Introduction : setting the context -- section 2. Functional description of the U.S. health and medical care system -- section 3. Political and economic values and health care financing -- section 4. Health care reform in the United States : targeted programs and consequences.

Recent data show wide disparity between Japan and the United States in the effectiveness of their health care systems. Japan spends close to the lowest percentage of its gross domestic product on health care among OECD countries, the United States spends the highest, yet life expectancies in...