Our Unsystematic Healthcare System

Our Unsystematic Healthcare System presents readers with a comprehensive overview of the U.S. healthcare system with an emphasis on change. It opens with a comparison of U.S. life expectancy and national expenditures with those of other economically advanced countries. The chapters that follow outline the different sectors of the healthcare system including public health, physician and hospital networks, private and public health insurance plans, and the pharmaceutical industry. The book’s conclusion considers forces outside of the healthcare system that play a role in determining Americans’ health status and longevity. Our Unsystematic Healthcare System is the ideal book for introducing readers to the basics of the complex U.S. healthcare system in an accessible way.

New to this Edition:

• New chapter on public health outlines public health origins, workings, and achievements to give students the background needed to discuss current crises such as COVID-19 and the overturning of Roe v Wade (Chapter 2)
• New chapter on the pharmaceutical industry explores drug development, advertising, and legislation to explore why the cost of drugs is so high (Chapter 7)
• New chapter on the social determinants of health considers the World Health Organization's view that neither behavior nor healthcare arrangements are primarily responsible for people’s health (Chapter 9)