Health Care Policy For California

Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.

Discusses the myriad problems with the current trend toward dumbing downÓ coverage. These strategies do nothing to address the serious structural problems in the system which are causing costs to explode & the number of uninsured to swell. Discusses current developments in quality of care initiatives. Describes how the public health system is also in crisis. Considers the fastest growing segment of health care costs -- pharmaceuticals. Tackles public health issues & demonstrates why California must firmly commit to protect all Californians from preventable, serious health threats; assure community-based health promotion & disease prevention activities; & guarantee preventative health services are universally accessible. Tables.

Anyone interested in how our current healthcare dilemma came to be will be fascinated by the tales told in Health Policy--The Hard Way, for this book not only traces the inside story of the development of Blue Cross and Blue Shield through the 1956 adoption and implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, but also analyzes the medical malpractice tort reform crisis of 1975, up to and including the shift to managed care. It is an important document for those who want to track what has happened to healthcare during these decades as well as providing an important springboard for all those interested in addressing the predicament of current healthcare needs. This is a wonderful resource to add to the discussion of the public heal th issues and for those trying to understand how the United States, albeit one of the wealthiest nations in all history, cannot provide an adequate national health policy program for its citizens. The author, a founder of the specialty of health-care law, is especially well-suited to assess this vital issue, having provided legal and policy counsel to more than 100 hospitals and healthcare organizations.