American Health Care Policy

American Health Care Policy: A Primer on Its History, Economics, and Politics illuminates the multifaceted dynamics that have shaped the American healthcare landscape from the 1940s to the present. The text adopts unique analytical lenses to explore the economic, political, and historical influences-and their interplay-and how they have contributed to the current state of healthcare policy in the United States.

The book examines healthcare definitions, ideologies, policies, and the impact of presidential administrations on healthcare policy, specifically covering policy shifts and developments during Donald Trump's and Joseph Biden's terms. The text focuses not only on the description and function of the American healthcare system but also on its economic underpinnings and ideological paradigms-including discussions on free market capitalism, consumer-directed health care, and the repercussions of shifting ideologies on policy and practice.

Developed to uncover and address the multitude of factors that contribute to the complexity and current challenges within the American healthcare system, American Health Care Policy is ideal for courses spanning health policy, political science, health economics, and American medical history.