History and Health Policy in the United States: Putting the Past Back In / Edition 1

by Rosemary A. Stevens, Charles E. Rosenberg, Lawton R. Burns, David Mechanic

Overview

In our rapidly advancing scientific and technological world, many take great pride and comfort in believing that we are on the threshold of new ways of thinking, living, and understanding ourselves. But despite dramatic discoveries that appear in every way to herald the future, legacies still carry great weight. Even in swiftly developing fields such as health and medicine, most systems and policies embody a sequence of earlier ideas and preexisting patterns.

In History and Health Policy in the United States, seventeen leading scholars of history, the history of medicine, bioethics, law, health policy, sociology, and organizational theory make the case for the usefulness of history in evaluating and formulating health policy today. In looking at issues as varied as the consumer economy, risk, and the plight of the uninsured, the contributors uncover the often unstated assumptions that shape the way we think about technology, the role of government, and contemporary medicine. They show how historical perspectives can help policymakers avoid the pitfalls of partisan, outdated, or merely fashionable approaches, as well as how knowledge of previous systems can offer alternatives when policy directions seem unclear.

Together, the essays argue that it is only by knowing where we have been that we can begin to understand health services today or speculate on policies for tomorrow.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813538389
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2006
Series:	Critical Issues in Health and Medicine
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Rosemary A. Stevens is DeWitt Wallace distinguished scholar in social medicine and public policy at Weill Cornell Medical College and professor emerita of the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Charles E. Rosenberg is a professor of the history of science and Ernest E. Monrad Professor in the social sciences at Harvard University.

Lawton R. Burns is the James Joo-Jin Kim Professor of health care systems at the University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Foreword by David Mechanic
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Rosemary A. Stevens

Part I: Actors and Interpretations
Chapter 1 - Anticipated Consequences: Historians, History, and Health Policy by Charles E. Rosenberg
Chapter 2 - The More Things Stay the Same the More They Change: The Odd Interplay between Government and Ideology in the Recent Political History of the U.S. Health-Care System by Lawrence D. Brown
Chapter 3 - Medical Specialization as American Health Policy: Interweaving Public and Private Roles by Rosemary A. Stevens

Part II: Rhetoric, Rights, Responsibilities
Chapter 4 - Patients of Health-Care Consumers? Why the History of Contested Terms Matters by Nancy Tomes
Chapter 5 - The Democratization of Privacy: Public-Health Surveillance and Changing Conceptions of Privacy in Twentieth-Century America by Amy L. Fairchild
Chapter 6 - Building a Toxic Environment: Historical Controversies over the Past and Future of Public Health by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner

Part III: Priorities and Politics
Chapter 7 - Situating Health Risks: An Opportunity for Disease-Prevention Policy by Robert A. Aronowitz
Chapter 8 - The Jewel in the Federal Crown? History, Politics, and the National Institutes of Health by Robert Cook-Deegan and Michael McGeary
Chapter 9 - A Marriage of Convenience: The Persistent and Changing Relationship between Long-Term Care and Medicaid by Colleen M. Grogan

Part IV: Policy Management and Results
Chapter 10 - Rhetoric, Realities, and the Plight of the Mentally Ill in America by David Mechanic and Gerald N. Grob
Chapter 11 - Emergency Rooms: The Reluctant Safety Net by Beatrix Hoffman
Chapter 12 - Policy Implications of Hospital System Failures: The Allegheny Bankruptcy by Lawton R. Burns and Alexandra P. Burns
Chapter 13 - The Rise and Decline of the HMO: A Chapter in U.S. Health-Policy History by Bradford H. Gray

Contributors
Index

Editorial Reviews

This rich array of essays shows how the lens of history can clarify contemporary health policy dilemmas and enable the reader to see ahead more clearly.

From the Publisher

The editors have put together an all-star cast.
We come expecting, and are given, strong, expert
solo performances from the social sciences, law,
and history. The lessons implicit in these chapters
invite us to use past evidence to test our mental
models, while the lens of historical perspective
forces us to examine our theoretical assumptions
and to explore a larger range of possible alterna-
tives.

New England Journal of Medicine - Constance Wei-Fang Liu and Duncan B. Neuhauser

This is an important book for those wrestling with the appropriate role of markets in U.S. health policy because it helps to explain why the U.S. doesn't achieve a high performance health system that generates value for money spent.

President, The Commonwealth Fund - Karen Davis

A refreshing antidote for those finding it difficult to envision a better future for health care in America because they are trapped in the present. By focusing on history, this excellent book helps us all to better understand the subtle relationship between values, institutions, economics, and medicine that shapes our health system.

Vice-President for Domestic Policy, The Heritage Foundation - Stuart M Butler

This rich array of essays shows how the lens of history can clarify contemporary health policy dilemmas and enable the reader to see ahead more clearly.

President, Institute of Medicine - Harvey V. Fineberg