The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

Abstract: A congressional report for policy makers, health care professionals, and the general public provides the opening statements of 3 members of the House Select Committee on Aging and the testimony of 5 witnesses in a 1984 hearing held before that committee. This fact-finding hearing focused on an assessment of how the US compares to other nations in its provision of health care to the American elderly. Topics included historical perspectives, health insurance programs, escalating health costs, the source of funding, coverage and benefits, and government initatives for cost controls.

Now in its 10th edition, this best-selling introductory text, valued for its balanced overview of the U.S. health care system, has been fully updated to help students stay at the forefront of the dynamic and complex health care field. Jonas' Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System continues to offer a foundational framework that concisely explains the core elements and functions of the system. The text provides an essential understanding of the current state of the health care system, as well as the factors influencing its future state. Students also benefit from the special emphasis given to the evolution of the health care system and to identification of the underlying values that influence health care policy. Well-organized and easily accessible, the 10th edition prepares the next generation of health care leaders—from health care management, public health, medicine, nursing, allied health, and health policy—to comprehend the variety of forces that shape the field in which they will practice so they can navigate change and improve the health system's record on quality, safety, value, access, and equity. New to the 10th Edition: Expanded coverage of telehealth, advanced consumer medical devices, apps, and remote patient monitoring Updated treatment of the social and political determinants of health Discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic including the health care system's resiliency in the face of adversity Updated content on the diverse health care workforce and its functions Discussion of important financing issues including value-based care and alternative payment models as well as the impact of private equity funding, consolidation, and consumerism Significantly updated sections across the continuum of care including self-care, adult day services, hospice, long-term care, and others Key Features The most concise and balanced introduction to the U.S. health care system Engaging visual content including cartoons, graphs, and tables that consolidate key information about health care system performance, workforce trends, health care financing, and policy changes Qualified instructors have access to this edition's expanded Instructor Resources featuring new learning activities, engaging case studies, and additional resources to supplement students' dynamic learning and interaction with the text

With the Affordable Care Act signed into law in 2010, the United States seemed closer than ever to achieving universal health care. However, repealing the act has been a key goal for the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, with the main arguments against it including the higher premiums for middle-class Americans and the abuse of government power through its control of the insurance industry. This volume helps define universal health care, explains the arguments for and against it, and discusses attempts to implement it on an international scale.

An eye-opening investigation into charitable crowdfunding for healthcare in the United States—and the consequences of allowing health care access to be decided by the digital crowd. Over the past decade, charitable crowdfunding has exploded in popularity across the globe. Sites such as GoFundMe, which now boasts a “global community of over 100 million” users, have transformed the ways we seek and offer help. When faced with crises—especially medical ones—Americans are turning to online platforms that promise to connect them to the charity of the crowd. What does this new phenomenon reveal about the changing ways we seek and provide healthcare? In Crowded Out, Nora Kenworthy examines how charitable crowdfunding so quickly overtook public life, where it is taking us, and who gets left behind by this new platformed economy. Although crowdfunding has become ubiquitous in our lives, it is often misunderstood: rather than a friendly free market “powered by the kindness” of strangers, crowdfunding is powerfully reinforcing inequalities and changing the way Americans think about and access healthcare. Drawing on extensive research and rich storytelling, Crowded Out demonstrates how crowdfunding for health is fueled by—and further reinforces—financial and moral “toxicities” in market-based healthcare systems. It offers a unique and distressing look beneath the surface of some of the most popular charitable platforms and helps to foster thoughtful discussions of how we can better respond to healthcare crises both small and large.

While the health effects of many aspects of life, from diet to marital status, have been extensively explored, little study has been made of the health effects of work. Covering such topics as on-the-job dangers, the role of unions in worker protection, and occupational health in both developed and developing countries, this collection of articles conclusively demonstrates the negative impact that neglect of citizens' working lives has on pubic health. With more Americans dying each year from job-related causes than were killed in a decade of combat in Vietnam, "Health and Work Under Capitalism" is a long-overdue and unusually significant book.

Through Canadian and international perspectives, Bending the Cost Curve in Health Care explores the management of growing health costs in an extraordinarily complex arena. The book moves beyond previous debates, agreeing that while efficiencies and better value for money may yet be found, more fundamental reforms to the management and delivery of health services are essential prerequisites to bending the cost curve in the long run. While there is considerable controversy over direction and details of change, there also remains the challenge of getting agreement on the values or principles that would guide the reshaping of the policies, the structures, and the regulatory environment of health care in Canada. Leading experts from around the world representing a range of disciplines and professional backgrounds come together to organize and define the problems faced by policy-makers. Case studies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Nordic countries, and industrialized Asian countries such as Taiwan offer useful reform experiences for provincial governments in Canada. Finally, common Canadian cost factors, such as pharmaceuticals and technology, and paying the health workforce, are explored. This book is the first volume in The Johnson-Shoyama Series on Public Policy, published by the University of Toronto Press in association with the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, an interdisciplinary centre for research, teaching, and executive training with campuses at the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan.

Compared to other wealthy countries, America stands out as a gluttonous over-consumer of both food and fuel. The United States boasts an obesity prevalence double the industrial world average, and per capita carbon emissions twice the average for Europe. Still worse, the policy steps taken by America in response to obesity and climate change have so far been the weakest in the industrial world. These aspects of America's exceptionalism are nothing to be proud of. Is it possible that America is hard-wired to consume too much food and fuel? Unfortunately, yes, says Robert Paarlberg in The United States of Excess. America's excess is driven in each case by its distinct endowment of material and demographic resources, its unusually weak national political institutions, and a unique political culture that celebrates both individual freedoms over social responsibility, and free markets over governmental authority. America's over-consumption is shown to be over-determined. Because of these powerful underlying circumstances, America's strongest policy response, both to climate change and obesity, will be adaptation rather than mitigation. As the damaging consequences of climate change become manifest, America will not impose adequate measures to reduce fossil fuel consumption, attempting instead to protect itself from storms and sea-level rise through costly infrastructure upgrades. In response to the damaging health consequences of obesity, America will opt for medical interventions and physical accommodations, rather than the policy measures that would be needed to induce better diets or more exercise. These adaptation responses will generate serious equity problems, both at home and abroad. Responding to obesity with medical interventions will fall short for those in America most prone to obesity - racial minorities and the poor - since these groups have never enjoyed adequate access to quality health care. Responding to climate change by building more resilient infrastructures at home, while allowing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to continue their increase, will impose greater climate disruption on poor tropical countries, which are far less capable of self-protection. Awareness of these inequities must be the starting point toward altering America's current path.

Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System, Sixth Edition is a clear and concise distillation of the major topics covered in the best-selling Delivering Health Care in America by the same authors. Written with the undergraduate in mind, Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System is a reader-friendly, well organized resource that covers the major characteristics, foundations, and future of the U.S. health care system. The text clarifies the complexities of health care organization and finance and presents a solid overview of how the various components fit together. Key Features: - Updated new data for tables, charts, figures, and text based on the latest published data - Coverage of COVID-19 - The latest on the Affordable Care Act including its effects of insurance, access, and cost. - Navigate eBook access (included with each print text) provides online or offline access to the digital text from a computer, tablet, or mobile device.

Caring for the Vulnerable: Perspectives in Nursing Theory, Practice, and Research focuses on vulnerable populations and how nurses can care for them, develop programs for them, conduct research, and influence health policy. Units I and II focus on concepts and theories; Unit III on research; Units IV, V, and VI on practice-oriented measures, including teaching nursing students to work with vulnerable patients and clients; and Unit VII on policy. The text provides a broad overview of material critical to working with these populations, comprehensive treatment of issues related to vulnerable populations, outstanding contributors who are experts in what they write, and a global focus.The Fifth Edition will be a major overhaul, as each new edition of this text has been. There will be a total of 31 new chapters focusing on new and emerging research on vulnerable populations. This text is generally used as a supplement in a wide variety of courses - from health promotion to population health, to global health.New to the Fifth Edition:Thirty-one new chapters focusing on new and emerging research on vulnerable populations, exploring topics such as: Intersection of Racial Disparities and Privilege in Women’s HealthHIV Prevention EducationCaring for the Transgender CommunityCaring for Vulnerable Populations: Outcomes with the DNP-Prepared NurseWith some chapters delving into key clinical topics in identified regions, such as:Opioid Abuse and Diversion Prevention in Rural Eastern Kentucky The Effects of Gun Trauma on Rural Montana Healthcare ProvidersHealth Care in MexicoFifth edition will continue to focus more on DNP authors and assess each chapter for relevance to DNP-prepared nursesFeatures an included test bank, practice activities, PPTs, IM, and a sample syllabus