This book provides key economic facts, explains the economic concepts needed to examine the implications of these facts, and summarizes the results of empirical studies regarding our healthcare system's access, cost, and quality problems as well as identifying six key trends that are reforming...

Access to health care in the United States remains greatly disproportionate across socioeconomic groups. It is not known, however, whether the disparities between the socioeconomic categories are increasing or decreasing. This analysis used a well-established non-parametric technique, employing...

part Section I: Pressures for Change -- chapter 1 Access -- chapter 2 Cost -- chapter 3 Quality -- chapter Conclusion to Section I -- chapter Introduction -- chapter 4 Align Incentives via Payment System Design -- chapter 5 Managed Care Organizations, Accountable Care Organizations, and...