Medicine and the Market: Equity v. Choice (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Angela A. Wasunna (Author) "Consider two classic texts, one from the fifth century BC, the other from the eighteenth century AD..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, World Bank, United Kingdom (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A timely and necessary contribution. Whether or not one agrees with the authors' conclusions, the book is essential reading for anyone concerned with health care reform. It carries out the critical task of placing our national health care debates in the wider context of justice and health care reform around the world." -- Nancy S. Jecker, PhD, JAMA

"A detailed analysis of the differences between health care systems in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Latin America, and several countries in Asia and Africa." -- Mary Beth Kenkel, PsycCRITIQUES

"Among the many valuable contributions of Medicine and the Market... is its potential to motivate a new program of qualitative research into the impact of different health care funding and distribution arrangements, not simply upon our bodies, but also, as it were, upon our souls." -- James Lindemann Nelson, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine

"[Callahan and Wasunna] convincingly show that, in health care, markets are famous for maximizing choice, not efficiency." -- Peter A. Ubel, Hastings Center Report

"A book that deserves to be read by anyone concerned with health systems analysis and health care reform." -- Andreas Reis, Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy

"The book will interest readers of this journal because the national case studies are alert to both the distant and recent past." -- Martin Gorsky, Social History of Medicine

"The global survey of market influences in health care that Callahan and Wasunna conduct is extensive and complete." -- Journal of Value Inquiry

"Internationally informed with extensive cross cultural data, this is a book that didn't merely hold my interest from start to finish -- I often found myself excited by it." -- James Nelson, Michigan State University

"This book provides a great deal of information about a 'hot' topic that heretofore has not been available in a single source." -- Thomas Rice, UCLA School of Public Health

"A thoughtful and penetrating analysis, from an international perspective, of how social values, scientific progress, and public aspirations have shaped the role of the market in medicine and health care. By rising above stereotypes, simple dichotomous choices, and a single concept of 'the market,' this book provides insights into how effective, efficient, affordable, and more equitable health care could be achieved -- thus better meeting the goals of medicine locally and globally." -- Solomon Benatar, University of Cape Town

"No topic in health care today is more important, and this is the best book on the subject that I have seen. It is scholarly, yet engrossing and easily accessible for the general reader. It will be widely discussed." -- Arnold S. Relman, M.D., Harvard Medical School, former Editor-in-Chief, New England Journal of Medicine

"In what often is but faith-based policy analysis, free markets have become in the minds of many the next new panacea that will solve our economic and moral health care dilemmas. In this fine book, Daniel Callahan and Angela Wasunna explore the empirical underpinnings of this faith. Without rejecting the potential of market forces in health care outright -- which would be another faith-based gesture -- they present a thoughtful portrait of the strength and limitations of that approach in the context of health care. Their work is a must read for any would-be health care reformer." -- Uwe Reinhardt, Princeton University

Product Description

Much has been written about medicine and the market in recent years. This book is the first to include an assessment of market influence in both developed and developing countries, and among the very few that have tried to evaluate the actual health and economic impact of market theory and practices in a wide range of national settings.

Tracing the path that market practices have taken from Adam Smith in the eighteenth century into twenty-first-century health care, Daniel Callahan and Angela A. Wasunna add a fresh dimension: they compare the different approaches taken in the market debate by health care economists, conservative market advocates, and liberal supporters of single-payer or government-regulated systems.

In addition to laying out the market-versus-government struggle around the world -- from Canada and the United States to Western Europe, Latin America, and many African and Asian countries -- they assess the leading market practices, such as competition, physician incentives, and co-payments, for their economic and health efficacy to determine whether they work as advertised.

This timely and necessary book engages new dimensions of a development that has urgent consequences for the delivery of health care worldwide.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 334 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (April 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801883393
• ISBN-13: 978-0801883392
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #314,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful and well-researched tour of the state of affairs, October 27, 2007

By	J. D. Stewart (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a thoughtful and well-researched study of how the tension between competing ideologies - health as a right vs. health as a commodity - has been playing out in the U.S. and abroad. Emanating from the well-respected nonpartisan Hastings Center, this book is an excellent choice for one wanting to get up to speed on the broad ideas underlying health policy conflicts.

2 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a load, January 4, 2007

By	Jeoffrey W. Lanfear - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wow this book really stinks. I can't believe people get paid to write this stuff. If I didn't have to read this book for school I would have burned it after the first few pages.