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Under universal health care, all residents of a country would be guaranteed care without incurring financial hardship, regardless of income. Out of the thirty-three countries that are considered developed, thirty-two have universal health care, with the United States being the exception. However, despite the widespread nature of universal health care, its implementation varies between countries. Additionally, despite its positive health impacts, the financial burden it places on governments is a major source of concern. This volume helps readers examine this issue through exploring economic, political, and health considerations, taking all sides of the debate into account.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1: Health Care Reform Will Help America's Economy -- 2: Health Care Reform Will Cause a Rise in Unemployment -- 3: Health Care Reform Would Give the IRS More Power -- 4: The IRS Does Not Have the Power to Enforce a Health Care Mandate -- 5: Americans Want Universal Health Care, the Health Care Industry Does Not -- 6: Americans Are Not Happy with the Health Care System -- 7: The World Health Organization's Report Is Misleading -- 8: International Comparisons Must Be Considered in Health Care Reform -- 9: New Technologies Cause Health Care Costs to Rise -- 10: New Technologies Can Cut Health Care Costs -- 11: The Delivery of Health Care Must Be Redesigned -- 12: Proposed Health Care Reforms Will Lead to Rationing of Care -- 13: America Is Already Rationing Health Care -- Appendix -- What You Should Know About Health Care -- What You Should Do About Health Care -- Organizations to Contact -- Bibliography -- Index -- Picture Credits -- Back Cover

Is universal health care a good idea? Has the Affordable Care Act been a success or a failure? These questions can be answered many different ways. Readers are introduced to the variety of views on health care as they take a deep dive into this crucial current events topic. The narrative encourages readers to become more informed citizens, and sidebars that present expert viewpoints help them gain a deeper understanding of the health care debate. Readers are also inspired to take part in this debate through discussion questions that deepen their critical thinking skills.

Universal health care was on the national political agenda for nearly a hundred years until a comprehensive (but not universal) health care reform bill supported by President Obama passed in 2010. The most common explanation for the failure of past reform efforts is that special interests were continually able to block reform by lobbying lawmakers. Yet, beginning in the 1970s, accelerating with the failure of the Clinton health care plan, and continuing through the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, health policy reform was alive and well at the state level. Interest Groups and Health Care Reform across the United States assesses the impact of interest groups to determine if collectively they are capable of shaping policy in their own interests or whether they influence policy only at the margins. What can this tell us about the true power of interest groups in this policy arena? The fact that state governments took action in health policy in spite of opposing interests, where the national government could not, offers a compelling puzzle that will be of special interest to scholars and students of public policy, health policy, and state politics

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Chapter 1 Public Policy, Federalism, and Diffusion -- Chapter 2 The Emergence of Modern Health Systems -- Chapter 3 Diffusion of Health Care Policy Innovations Among States -- Chapter 4 Hawaii and Oregon: A Universal Approach -- Chapter 5 Oklahoma: An Incremental Approach -- Chapter 6 Conclusions -- Index

Stratification by immigration status: contradictory exclusion and inclusion after health care reform / Heide Castañeda -- Stratified access: seeking dialysis care in the borderlands / Milena Andrea Melo -- Stratification and "universality": immigrants and barriers to coverage in Massachusetts / Tiffany D. Joseph -- Stratification through Medicaid: public prenatal care in New York City / Elise Andaya -- Segmented risks: eligibility and resentment on insurance exchanges / Jessica M. Mulligan -- Uninsured in America: before and after the ACA / Susan Sered -- "Texans don't want health insurance": social class and the ACA in a red state / Emily K. Brunson -- The responsibility to maintain health: pharmaceutical regulation of chronic disease among the urban poor / Susan J. Shaw -- Outsourcing responsibility: state stewardship of behavioral health care services / Cathleen E. Willging and Elise M. Trott -- Increasing access, increasing responsibility: activating the newly insured / Mary Alice Scott and Richard Wright.