Description
Book SynopsisWeighs in on consumer-driven health care (CDHC). This book contends that supporters of CDHC rely on oversimplified ideas about health care, health care systems, economics, and human nature. It challenges the historical and theoretical assumptions on which the consumer-driven health care movement is based.
Trade Review“
Health Care at Risk is the first intelligent and intelligible discussion of a new fad in American health policy, the so-called ‘consumer-directed’ movement. This topic is quite important, and Timothy Stoltzfus Jost knows what he is talking about.”— Theodore R. Marmor, author of
Fads, Fallacies, and Foolishness in Medical Care Management and Policy“
Health Care at Risk offers a scholarly and insightful assessment of the origins, theoretical underpinnings, and key elements of the modern consumerism movement in health care financing and its implications for health care access and quality. Clear, unbiased, and thought-provoking, Timothy Stoltzfus Jost’s book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the future of the American health care system.”—Sara Rosenbaum, Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
“A well-timed, compelling study, written for experts but also, thankfully, understandable by ‘consumers.’ Timothy Stoltzfus Jost shows why leaving health care decisions to a free market cannot work, even in the United States, while also emphasizing the importance of consumer choice in future policy decisions. Erudite, clearly argued, engaging, and fair.”—Rosemary A. Stevens, author of
The Public-Private Health Care State “In
Health Care at Risk, Timothy Stoltzfus Jost has written a compelling and yet balanced critique of the so-called ‘consumer-driven health care movement,’ a movement that is gaining force not just in the United States, but around the world. Students of international health policy, and indeed supporters and opponents of the CDHC movement, would benefit from reading Jost’s account.”—Adam Oliver, Editor in Chief,
Health Economics, Policy and Law“[A]n analytic tour de force, comprehensive in scope, scrupulous in scholarship, balanced in approach, and incisive in its policy recommendations. . . .
Health Care at Risk is a fine piece of work that should be of interest to policy makers, policy researchers, and many physicians. It would also be an excellent supplementary text for an introductory course in health policy and management. Name an issue that is germane to the current health policy debate and you are likely to find it discussed here. The references and footnotes are comprehensive and meticulous. Most of the major modern contributors to health care organization and finance are not only cited, but their ideas are transmitted with high fidelity and clarity.” -- Richard L. Kravitz * JAMA *
Table of ContentsPreface ix
1. Our Broken American Health Care System 1
2. The Consumer-Driven Prescription 17
3. Consumer-Driven Health Care Advocates: Who They Are and What They Believe 27
4. Consumer-Driven Health Care the First Time Around 42
5. The Nonaccidental System 54
6. The Origins of Consumer-Driven Health Care: A Short History of American Health Economics
7. The Theoretical Foundations of Consumer-Driven Health Care 86
8. But Does It Work? The Evidence for and against Consumer-Driven Health Care 119
9. Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues Presented by Consumer-Driven Health Care 150
10. Are Consumers Our Only Hope? How Other Countries Organize Their Health Care Systems 166
11. How to Fix Our Broken Health Care System: Where Do We Start? 189
Notes 205
Bibliography 225
Index 253
