Health care reform has been stalled since the Clinton health care initiative, but the political difficulties internal to that initiative and the ethical problems that provoked it -- of cost, coverage, and overall fairness, for example -- have only gotten worse. This collection examines the moral principles that must underlie any new reform initiative and the processes of democratic decision-making essential to successful reform.
This volume provides careful analyses that will allow the reader to short-circuit the mythmaking, polemics, and distortions that have too often characterized public discussion of health care reform. Its aim is to provide the moral foundations and institutional arrangements needed to drive any new health care initiative and so to stimulate a reasoned discussion before the next inevitable round of reform efforts.
Foreword by Thomas H. Murray.
Contributors: Howard Brody, Norman Daniels, Theodore Marmor, Tobie H. Olsan, Uwe E. Reinhardt, Gerd Richter, Rory B. Weiner, Lawrence W. White
Wade L. Robison is the Ezra A. Hale Professor in Applied Ethics at the Rochester Institute of Technology and recipient of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Prize for Social Science and Public Policy for his book Decisions in Doubt: The Environment and Public Policy.
Timothy H. Engström is professor of philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and recipient of the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching.
Reviews
U.S. health policy often appears to amount to little more than the search for technical solutions to what ails the health system. Yet Health Care Reform argues compellingly that the crisis in health care is, at root, a moral crisis that requires us to grapple with the ethical implications of our health care policies and practices in both the public and private sectors. This valuable collection provides diverse perspectives -- ranging from philosophy and economics to political analysis -- that highlight serious problems in the health care system while also offering provocative solutions. --Jonathan Oberlander, associate professor of social medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and author of The Political Life of MedicareThis book comes at the perfect moment. The health care "system" is increasingly dysfunctional, presenting enormous burdens of cost and access insecurity for many Americans -- so much so that many corporate leaders are stepping forward as strong advocates of reform. This book reminds us about the moral and ethical underpinnings of having an equitable, good quality system of care in the U.S. As such, it is a most appropriate way to kick-start the new national debate which, if we're very fortunate, will end with a real solution that makes sense on every level. --Irwin Redlener, MD, associate dean, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and president, the Children's Health Fund
This exceptional set of essays recognizes that health care reform must start with a vision of what we want the system to achieve. Proposals to change the US health care system often simply rearrange the deck chairs on the proverbial Titanic. Rather than tinkering with financial incentives, these authors make a bold case for comprehensive reform based on moral grounds. Such concerns support rather than contradict the strong economic case for change. -- Leif Wellington Haase, senior program officer and health care fellow, The Century Foundation
