Healthcare Politics and Policy in America

This fully updated fifth edition gives expanded attention to contemporary issues including the aging of the American population, physician shortages, gene therapy, specialty drugs, the opiod crisis, and the Trump administration's failed attempts at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.

Kant Patel is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Missouri State University, USA. Mark Rushefsky is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Missouri State University, USA.

Part I: Healthcare Politics and Policy 1. Healthcare Politics 2. Healthcare Policy in the United States Part II: Government Health Programs 3. The Affordable Care Act: Stumbling Toward Universal Health Insurance? 4. Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program: Healthcare for the Poor and the Disabled 5. Medicare: Healthcare for the Elderly 6. Healthcare for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Veterans Part III: Problems of the Healthare System 7. Falling Through the Safety Net: The Disadvantaged 8. The Problem of Rising Healthcare Costs and Spending Part IV: Contemporary Challenges in American Healthcare 9. The Role of Biomedical Technology: The Beginning and the End of Life 10. Challenges Facing the American Healthcare System Part V: The Continuing Struggle for Healthcare Reform in the United States 11. Healthcare Politics and Policy in America: Moving Toward Reform?