Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hamony. Ronald

Titel

GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN AMERICA

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• How involved should the government be in American healthcare? Ronald Hamowy argues that to answer this pressing question, we must understand the genesis of the five main federal agencies charged with responsibility for our health: the Public Health Service, the Food & Drug Administration, the Veterans Administration, the National Institutes of Health, & Medicare. In examining these, he traces the growth of federal influence from its tentative beginnings in 1798 through the ambitious infrastructures of today - & offers startling insights on the current debate. The author contends that until the twentieth century, governmental involvement in health care policy was nominal. With the sweeping food & drug reforms of 1906 and the Medicare amendments to Social Security in 1965, a whole new system of health care was brought to the American public. A careful analysis of the various programs generated by this legislation, however, shows a different picture of pet projects, budgetary lobbying, competitive bureaucracy & discord between the agencies & their opposition. Government & Public Health in America provides an illuminating look at the complicated forces that created these institutions & provokes discussion about their usefulness in the future. Hamowy's thoroughly researched analysis fills a substantial gap in the history of health policy. Economists, political scientists, historians, sociologists & health professionals concerned with the interface between government & health care will surely find much to recommend in this highly readable account of a fascinating topic. Adapted from the source document.