Expanded and updated, this is a new edition of an essential look at the history, structure, successes, and problems of the US health care system. The United States spends more on health care than any other country in the world. Yet the health of our society and our access to care are worse than in nearly all our peer countries. In the latest edition of Introduction to US Health Policy, Donald A. Barr reviews the structure of the American health care system and explores the various organizations and institutions that make the US health care system work—or fail to work. The book introduces readers to cultural issues surrounding health care policy—such as access, affordability, and quality—and specific elements of US health care, such as insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid. It scrutinizes the shift to for-profit care while analyzing the pharmaceutical industry, issues surrounding long-term care, the plight of the uninsured, and nursing shortages. This new edition features expanded and updated information on: • The 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), its role in insuring millions of Americans, and Republican efforts to weaken or repeal it • COVID-19's widespread impacts on the US health care system, including the expansion of telehealth services • Differences between Medicaid and Medicare plans and changes to these services in the twenty-first century • Laws affecting US health care, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities Act, the No Surprises Act, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act

Why is there such a deep partisan division within the United States regarding how health care should be organized and financed-and how can we encourage politicians to band together again for the good of everyone? For decades, Democratic and Republican political leaders have disagreed about the fundamental goals of American health policy. The modern-day consequences of this disagreement-particularly in the Republicans' campaign to erode the coverage and equity gains of the Affordable Care Act-can be seen in the tragic and disparate impact of COVID-19 on the country. In Crossing the American Health Care Chasm, Donald A. Barr, MD, PhD, details the breakdown in political relations in the United States. Why, he asks, has health policy-which used to be a place where the two sides could find common ground-become the nexus of fiery political conflict? From Harry S. Truman's failed attempt to enact a plan for national health insurance to the recent efforts of President Donald J. Trump, Barr's historical analysis also touches on every presidential administration in between. Tracing the bipartisanship that developed over the four decades following the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, Barr explains why this spirit of cooperation has given way to such a seemingly unbridgeable ideological chasm. Exploring how political conflict affects health care organization, financing, and delivery, Barr also offers a detailed analysis of the multiple attempts on the part of congressional Republicans and the Trump administration either to weaken or to repeal the ACA. Crossing the American Health Care Chasm offers a series of steps that policy makers can take to improve the national health care situation and provide a basis for ongoing bipartisanship as we continue to confront the policy challenges facing our country. Ultimately, Barr argues, this divide is more dangerous than ever at a time when health care costs continue to skyrocket, the number of uninsured Americans is rising, many state governments are chipping away at Medicaid, and the GOP has not let up in its efforts to dismantle the ACA. This book will be of profound interest both to those responsible for carrying out national health care policy and to those who study health policy from an academic perspective.

Challenging students to think critically about the complex web of social forces that leads to health disparities in the United States. The health care system in the United States has been called the best in the world. Yet wide disparities persist between social groups, and many Americans suffer from poorer health than people in other developed countries. In this revised edition of Health Disparities in the United States, Donald A. Barr provides extensive new data about the ways low socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity interact to create and perpetuate these health disparities. Examining the significance of this gulf for the medical community and society at large, Barr offers potential policy- and physician-based solutions for reducing health inequity in the long term. This thoroughly updated edition focuses on a new challenge the United States last experienced more than half a century ago: successive years of declining life expectancy. Barr addresses the causes of this decline, including what are commonly referred to as "deaths of despair"-from opiate overdose or suicide. Exploring the growing role geography plays in health disparities, Barr asks why people living in rural areas suffer the greatest increases in these deaths. He also analyzes recent changes under the Affordable Care Act and considers the literature on how race and ethnicity affect the way health care providers evaluate and treat patients. As both a physician and a sociologist, Barr is uniquely positioned to offer rigorous medical explanations alongside sociological analysis. An essential text for courses in public health, health policy, and sociology, this compelling book is a vital teaching tool and a comprehensive reference for social science and medical professionals.

While 40 percent of premature deaths in the United States can be attributed to such dangerous behaviors as smoking, overeating, inactivity, and drug or alcohol use, medical education has generally failed to address how these behaviors are influenced by social forces. This new textbook from Dr Donald A Barr was designed in response to the growing recognition that physicians need to understand the biosocial sciences behind human behavior in order to be effective practitioners. Introduction to Biosocial Medicine explains the determinants of human behavior and the overwhelming impact of behavior on health. Drawing on both recent and historical research, the book combines the study of the biology of humans with the social and psychological aspects of human behavior. Dr Barr, a sociologist as well as physician, illustrates how the biology of neurons, the intricacies of the human mind, and the power of broad social forces all influence individual perceptions and responses. Addressing the enormous potential of interventions from medical and public health professionals to alter these patterns of human behavior over time, Introduction to Biosocial Medicine brings necessary depth and perspective to medical training and education.