Renewing the Promise: Medicare and Its Reform [Hardcover]

David Blumenthal (Editor), Mark Schlesinger (Editor), Pamela Brown Drumheller (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195043049 | ISBN-13: 978-0195043044 | Publication Date: July 14, 1988 | Edition: 1

This is a timely, comprehensive examination of the history, current status, and future prospects of Medicare. It provides an analysis of Medicare's accomplishments and failings, an assessment of alternative approaches to remedying the problems, a discussion of the principles that can guide the choice among options, and the authors' recommendations for reform. The book is based on a careful consideration of the health care needs of the elderly, and reflects the work of physicians, gerontologists, lawyers, former Medicare administrators, health economists, political scientists, and experts on government and public policy. Professionals and policy-makers will appreciate this thoughtful examination of the Medicare program.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book presents the problems in all their historical and fiscal complexity, and opposes thoughtful analysis of the options to the simplistic polemics of conservatives and liberals alike. It deserves a careful reading by a profession that is historically responsible for much of Medicare's failures and thus morally obligated to lead the process for reform." --Journal of General Internal Medicine

"This book provides a thoughtful and useful compendium of the Medicare program, its history, its accomplishments, and its shortcomings . . . . A valuable reference for those who want to understand Medicare or to use it as a template in the debate to come on health care insurance." --New England Journal of Medicine

"In view of the prominent sponsorship of the Harvard Medicare Project and the obvious critical issue of providing comprehensive health care for a graying America, this book is highly recommended. . . . readers can find the oftimes insightful history of a health care movement as well as the specifics of operational activities." --New York State Journal of Medicine

"This book should be of great interest to students of the Medicare program and to those who wish to develop a better health care system. The book is well suited as a supplementary text for undergraduate or graduate courses in health policy, health insurance, and medical care organization. The authors are to be recommended for addressing most of the major elements of the policy debate in this book." --Journal of Health Admininstration Education

"At last there is a book that brings together the history and current status of Medicare since its enactment in 1965. The book comprises nine chapters by different authors, all of them well researched, and covering the gamut of problems and issues relating to Medicare--cost sharing, benefits, hospital and physician reimbursement, innovations in insurance plans, and sources of finance--along with sensible, equitable, and realistic recommendations for long-range improvement . . . . This is a most welcome book at this time." --Journal of the History of Medicine

"Those with a specialist interest in large-scale health insurance programs will find this a fascinating account of the legislative history, current status and future prospects of the American Medicare."--Community Health Studies

About the Author

David Blumenthal, Senior Vice-President, Brigham and Women's Medical Center. Pamela Brown Drumheller, Co-ordinator of the Harvard Medicare Project, Center for Health Policy and Management, both at Harvard University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (July 14, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195043049
• ISBN-13: 978-0195043044
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,331,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)