ME Sharpe Professor

“An informative primer on a crucial health policy issue.” (*)

This text shows students the root causes of the inequalities of the American health care system and discusses various policy alternatives. It systematically documents the demands on and the performance of our health care system for different population groups as defined on the basis of gender (women), age (children, elderly), race and ethnicity (African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans), and residence in high poverty areas (rural and inner city locales).

Endorsements:

“Patel and Rushefsky have done it again. Health Care in America is an informative primer on a crucial health policy issue: inequalities in medical care access and quality in the United States. They show that the gaps are real, and explain why they cleave along the enduring fault lines of race, ethnicity, and gender. In doing so, they open up a vital discussion of how these gaps might be closed.” — Jacob S. Hacker, Yale University (*)

“This much-needed book addresses a rarely touched topic in health policy—the many manifestations of health disparities along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and geography. The authors collect and review a massive amount of up-to-date literature highlighting this critical issue for a nation that has yet to come to terms with the consequences of social and economic inequalities. Timely and welcome.” — Karen L. Baird, Purchase College, State University of New York