Health Care Half-Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality

by Arthur Garson Jr., Carolyn L. Engelhard

Overview

Are you tired of hearing that the American health care 'system' is broken? Well, it is. You can't understand your bill—or pay it; you wait an hour before seeing the doctor for ten minutes; and that was your child who was just laid off, and whose family has no health insurance. Health Care Half-Truths shows the ways in which American health care is tarnished and ways in which it shines, explaining that if we are going to make our health care system work for us we must begin with a common set of information. Unfortunately, our current information comes from sound bites that on their surface seem perfectly reasonable, but on closer examination are wrong. Health Care Half-Truths untangles the misinformation, misperceptions, and confusion that have confounded the American public and our elected officials. Dr. Arthur Garson identifies twenty myths about the U.S. health care system and uses his extensive knowledge and keen insights to blow them apart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742565913
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/26/2007
Series:	American Political Challenges
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	314
File size:	365 KB

About the Author

Arthur Garson, Jr., MD, MPH, is Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Virginia and previously was dean of the University's School of Medicine. He is a member of the National Academics Institute of Medicine. He has served as president of the American College of Cardiology and was appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to chair the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He continues to practice medicine, caring for children with heart disease. Carolyn L. Engelhard, MPA, is assistant professor of medical education and a health policy analyst in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. In addition, she directs the Master of Science program in clinical research and provides technical and consultative services to state health and Medicaid agencies.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 I. Our Country and the World
Chapter 3 1. American Medical Care Is Second-Rate Compared to Other Countries
Chapter 4 2. American Health Care Is the Most Expensive in the World
Chapter 5 II. Cost: The Expensive Care Myths
Chapter 6 3. America Wastes One-Half of its Medical Care Dollars
Chapter 7 4. Most Medical Care Dollars Are Spent in the Last Six Months of Life
Chapter 8 5. Better Quality Saves Money
Chapter 9 6. Preventive Care Saves Money
Chapter 10 7. America Will Not Ration Health Care
Chapter 11 III. Quality: The Good Care Myths
Chapter 12 8. Science Drives Most Medical Decisions
Chapter 13 9. High Quality Care Cannot Be Defined
Chapter 14 10. Consumers Can Make the Best Decisions about Their Medical Care
Chapter 15 11. Fewer Doctors Will Be Needed As Medicine Changes
Chapter 16 12. The Current Malpractice System Helps Patients
Chapter 17 13. Managing Care Is Evil
Chapter 18 IV. Coverage: The Insurance, Underinsurance, and Uninsurance Myths
Chapter 19 14. In America, There Is a Safety Net of Government Programs Providing Health Care for the Poor
Chapter 20 15. People Who Work Can Afford Health Insurance
Chapter 21 16. Provision of Health Insurance for Employees Has Always Been the Employer's Responsibility, and Will Continue That Way
Chapter 22 17. The Uninsured Get the Care They Need in Emergency Rooms
Chapter 23 18. No Additional Funding Is Needed to Cover the Uninsured; the Money is Available in the System
Chapter 24 V. The Future
Chapter 25 19. All Other Countries Provide Health Care Coverage for Everyone; We Should Be No Different
Chapter 26 20. Major Change in the American Health Care System is Impossible

Editorial Reviews

Health Care Half-Truths is a fascinating book dealing with one of the most important and seemingly intractable issues of our time in the United States: equitable and high quality health care.. .. The book is highly recommended to students and teachers as well as policy makers, health care workers and anyone interested in a deeper understanding of today's health care dilemma.

David J. Skorton

Health Care Half-Truths contributes significantly to the debate over health reform by correcting the biggest myths about health care in the United States. Dr. Garson and Ms. Engehard answer the false perception that the U.S. offers some of the worst health care in the developed world and even that preventive care always saves money, for example. By starting with a clearer diagnosis of the problems in the health sector, they believe policymakers will be able to build on its strengths and correct its weaknesses. The book gives policymakers a big dose of reality to guide their decisions.

Grace-Marie Turner

Garson and Engelhard...offer an excellent, well-documented text...the book offers extensive up-to-date references and resources separate from the straightforward text. Summing Up: Recommended. All Levels.

Choice Reviews - J.E. Thompson

A realistic perspective on our health care system that is highly informative yet refreshingly optimistic when it comes to needed change.

Steven A. Wartman M.D.

Health Care Half-Truths is a provocative and important book—easy to digest and stimulating to the mind! By challenging the conventional wisdom, it forces all of us to rethink what we know about American health care.

Karen Davis

Health Care Half-Truths is a great resource for the public and for policy makers as they tackle what has become a mired behemoth—healthcare in America. Whether trying to get in to a doctor, affording the charges, or understanding the systems, healthcare often overwhelms us as consumers as well as those who seek to put forward sound policy. If you want to understand how we got where we are or if you want to start making changes, Health Care Half-Truths is a valuable place to start.

Jane Woods

Garson and Engelhard make a fundamental point that all policymakers, business leaders, and healthcare stakeholders must hear: change is possible. Despite all the myths, half truths, and real-world problems, we can build a 21st century intelligent health system that saves lives and saves money for every American. The authors pull no punches, and by doing so make an important and lasting contribution.

Newt Gingrich Newt Gingrich

How exhilarating it is to read a book on health care policy that dispels delusions—that prevention always saves money, that we can stop growth of health care spending without rationing, that doctors always know what they are doing, that the uninsured and poor always get at least emergency care, and the biggest delusion of all—that there is no politically achievable way to extend health insurance coverage to all Americans.

Henry J. Aaron

I could not put this book down! Every American should read it!

Wayne Turnage

Health care now accounts for one-sixth of the entire US economy, yet it is misunderstood by almost everyone. By challenging common myths about health care, Garson and Engelhard artfully help readers of all levels of expertise gain a far better appreciation of the strengths as well as the problems of our health care system.

Stuart M. Butler

Before one can make a cure, one has to get the right diagnosis. This book is an outstanding addition to the debate on fixing American healthcare with its thoughtful exposure of myths with well researched reality. It is a must read for the public, payers, physicians and policy makers.

J. James Rohack M.D

Garson and Engelhard make a fundamental point that all policymakers, business leaders, and healthcare stakeholders must hear: change is possible. Despite all the myths, half truths, and real-world problems, we can build a 21st century intelligent health system that saves lives and saves money for every American. The authors pull no punches, and by doing so make an important and lasting contribution.

Newt Gingrich