Staatliche Gesundheitsfürsorge

Proof that high health care spending is linked directly to poverty.In Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform, Dr. Richard (Buz) Cooper argues that US poverty and high health care spending are inextricably entwined. Our nation's health care system bears a financial burden that is greater than in any other developed country in large part because impoverished patients use more health care, driving up costs across the board.Drawing on decades of research, Dr. Cooper illuminates the geographic patterns of poverty, wealth, and health care utilization that exist across neighborhoods, regions, and states--and among countries. He chronicles the historical threads that have led to such differences, examines the approaches that have been taken to combat poverty throughout US history, and analyzes the impact that structural changes now envisioned for clinical practice are likely to have. His research reveals that ignoring the impact of low income on health care utilization while blaming rising costs on waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary care has led policy makers to reshape clinical practice in ways that impede providers who care for the poor.The first book to address the fundamental nexus that binds poverty and income inequality to soaring health care utilization and spending, Poverty and the Myths of Health Care Reform is a must-read for medical professionals, public health scholars, politicians, and anyone concerned with the heavy burden of inequality on the health of Americans.

In 2008, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centers (UPMC) hoisted its logo atop the U.S. Steel Building in downtown Pittsburgh, symbolically declaring that the era of big steel had been replaced by the era of big medicine for this once industrial city. More than 1,200 miles to the south, a similar sense of optimism pervaded the public discourse around the relationship between health care and the future of Houston's economy. While traditional Texas industries like oil and natural gas still played a critical role, the presence of the massive Texas Medical Center, billed as "the largest medical complex in the world," had helped to rebrand the city as a site for biomedical innovation and ensured its stability during the financial crisis of the mid-2000s. Taking Pittsburgh and Houston as case studies, The Medical Metropolis offers the first comparative, historical account of how big medicine transformed American cities in the postindustrial era. Andrew T. Simpson explores how the hospital-civic relationship, in which medical centers embraced a business-oriented model, remade the deindustrialized city into the "medical metropolis." From the 1940s to the present, the changing business of American health care reshaped American cities into sites for cutting-edge biomedical and clinical research, medical education, and innovative health business practices. This transformation relied on local policy and economic decisions as well as broad and homogenizing national forces, including HMOs, biotechnology programs, and hospital privatization. Today, the medical metropolis is considered by some as a triumph of innovation and revitalization and by others as a symbol of the excesses of capitalism and the inequality still pervading American society.

Whether it is called shell shock, soldier's heart or PTSD, the devastation that war leaves in its wake is present throughout history. Soldiers and healthcare workers alike experienced such symptoms as depression, anxiety, rapid pulse and cardiac complications during the Civil War. Prominent figures such as Frederick Douglass, Medal of Honor winner Mary Edwards Walker, Clara Barton and others were instrumental in supporting healthcare for soldiers and medical workers. After the war, medical establishments in New York and Washington, D.C., arose to heal veterans physically and mentally. In 1866, Congress created the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, one of many vital attempts to provide postwar medical support. Author Heather Butts recounts the heroism of those who fought, healed and suffered long after the war ended.

This biography of James Edmund Reeves, whose legislative accomplishments cemented American physicians' control of the medical marketplace, illuminates landmarks of American health care: the troubled introduction of clinical epidemiology and development of botanic medicine and homeopathy, the Civil War's stimulation of sanitary science and hospital medicine, the rise of government involvement, the revolution in laboratory medicine, and the explosive growth of phony cures. It recounts the human side of medicine as well, including the management of untreatable diseases and the complex politics of medical practice and professional organizing. Reeves' life provides a reminder that while politics, economics, and science drive the societal trajectory of modern health care, moral decisions often determine its path.

Many workers in medicine, healthcare administration, science, and technology, no matter how strong their academic degrees or how distinguished their careers, find themselves baffled, frustrated, and even angered by their encounters with the law. Some of those occasions may lead to the need for a lawyer. But many of the bafflements and frustrations arise from ignorance about what the law is, including how it operates.Over more than a half century of inquiry into the relations between law and science, and through numerous conversations with physicians, scientists, and healthcare professionals whose work rests on technological development, the author realized that they often desire more knowledge about the operations of the law and the legal system. This book seeks to provide basic knowledge about the law in realms where these professionals often encounter it, primarily in areas where activities pose risks of personal injury.This book discusses two basic types of law: civil litigation and other remedies afforded to persons who ascribe injuries to the conduct or product of others, and direct regulation by the government of the levels of safety in those areas. Principal practical applications of this knowledge lie in ways to minimize risk, both in the primary sense and in efforts to avoid litigation over injuries, and in how to present arguments about policy to government officials who write laws and regulations.

From the obesity epidemic to antibiotic resistance, firearm injuries, and health disparities, many health issues surface to the public domain in the form of controversies. In this innovative new text, author Jan Kirk Carney engages the reader in understanding public health and health policy through a study of current controversies. Many issues connect public health and health care, an important perspective given the Affordable Care Act and health system changes at the state level. To get to the root of the controversy-and gain insight as to what must be done to advance the health issue-learners must grasp the breadth and scope of the issue and evidence-base for prevention, dissect root causes and barriers, then propose strategies for progress. Controversies in Public Health and Health Policy uses a structured format to carefully examine each controversy, with background, evidence-base, discussion questions, and additional learning resources.Some of the topics covered include the acceptance of obesity as a cultural norm, e-cigarettes, binge drinking on college campuses, prescription drug abuse, antibiotic resistance, gun control, preventing concussions, climate change, and more.

David M. Craig traveled across the United States to assess health care access, delivery and finance in this country. He interviewed religious hospital administrators and interfaith activists, learning how they balance the values of economic efficiency and community accountability. He met with conservatives, liberals, and moderates, reviewing their ideas for market reform or support for the Affordable Care Act. He discovered that health care in the US is not a private good or a public good. Decades of public policy and philanthropic service have made health care a shared social good.Health Care as a Social Good: Religious Values and the American Democracy argues that as escalating health costs absorb more and more of family income and government budgets, we need to take stock of the full range of health care values to create a different and more affordable community-based health care system. Transformation of that system is a national priority but Americans have failed to find a way to work together that bypasses our differences. Craig insists that community engagement around the common religious conviction that healing is a shared responsibility can help us achieve this transformation-one that will not only help us realize a new and better system, but one that reflects the ideals of American democracy and the common good.

An expert debunks popular misconceptions about health policy, including the merits of single-payer plans, and offers an alternative.In the battle over health care reform we can try to fashion new policies based on old ideas--or we can acknowledge today's demographic and economic realities. In Health Care Turning Point, health policy expert Roger Battistella argues that the conventional wisdom that dominates health policy debates is out of date. Battistella takes on popular misconceptions about the advantages of single-payer plans, the role of the market, and other health policy issues and outlines a pragmatic new approach.Few would disagree that the current system is broken. But, Battistella asserts provocatively, a government takeover of health insurance patterned after Medicare and Medicaid won't work either. Battistella argues that contrary to popular belief, single-payer coverage will not lower health spending but would encourage overconsumption and drive costs up. If consumers were responsible for buying their own health insurance (as they are for buying their own car and home insurance), he argues, they'd look for value and demand greater price and quality transparency from providers.The economic shibboleth that the principles of market competition don't apply to health care is nonsense, Battistella says. We won't achieve real health care reform until policy makers adjust to this reality and adopt a more pragmatic view.

One book every health care professional needs!<BR> By 2030 Latinos will comprise roughly 20 percent of the population of the United States. Growing numbers of health professionals are realizing the importance of understanding Latino cultural values as they impact the clinical encounter. Such knowledge can enhance their ability to communicate with and treat Latino patients effectively and respectfully. <BR>The Latino Patient provides an in-depth exploration of Latino diversity, relevant cultural values, health status, beliefs, and practices; and effective communication strategies. The author has developed an original, practice-oriented model that leads the reader from greeting the patient to ultimately negotiating treatment. The book is hands-on and provides numerous vignettes gleaned from the author's experience. The Latino Patient should be high-priority reading for physicians, nurses, physician's assistants, therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers and other clinicians.

Bill Clinton's 1993-94 health care reform initiative was one of the most active and sustained presidential campaigns ever undertaken in support of a single social issue, and certainly the boldest attempt to establish national health insurance in the United States. An analysis of the Clinton campaign, therefore, reveals much about the politics of divided government in the late 20th century, the apparent end of the New Deal-Great Society approach to governance and the enduring democratic coalition which supported it, and, of course, the high stakes politics of health care reform. This study attempts to advance our understanding of why national health insurance has proven to be such a potent idea while seemingly impossible to accomplish. The work focuses on the political factors which derailed the Clintons' health care reform initiative, providing a case study of a most significant modern-day political and policy battle.