Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.
Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care and over 300,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
47 used & new from $5.35
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care (Hardcover)

by Arnold Kling (Author)
Key Phrases: matching funding systems, premium medicine, health care finance system, United States, Private Insurance, David Cutler (more...)
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
List Price: $16.95
Price: $13.56 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.39 (20%)
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Monday, July 13? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
26 new from $8.45 21 used from $5.35
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Kindle Edition (Kindle Book) $7.20
Paperback $9.95 $9.95 29 used & new from $5.11

Frequently Bought Together

Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care + The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care + A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care
Price For All Three: $44.49

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Healthy Competition, Second Edition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It,

Healthy Competition, Second Edition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It,

by Michael F. Cannon
4.5 out of 5 stars (2)  $9.56
A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care

A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care

by Dr. Arnold Relman
4.5 out of 5 stars (12)  $18.72
Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System

by John F. Cogan
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $13.50
Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It

Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It

by Michael F. Cannon
5.0 out of 5 stars (7) 
Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure

Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure

by Regina Herzlinger
4.2 out of 5 stars (31)  $16.47
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This is one of the most important books written on health care." -- Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University, copublisher of Marginal Revolution.

I warmly recommend his book to general readers who want to understand what economics has to say about health care. -- Arnold S. Relman, The New England Journal of Medicine, September 2006

Product Description
In Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care, economist Arnold Kling argues that the way we finance health care matches neither the needs of patients nor the way medicine is practiced. The availability of premium medicine, combined with patients who are insulated from costs, means Americans are not getting maximum value per dollar spent. Using basic economic concepts, Kling demonstrates that a greater reliance on private saving and market innovation would eliminate waste, contain health care costs and improve the quality of care. Kling proposes gradually shifting responsibility for health care for the elderly away from taxpayers and back to the individual. The idea of matching the health care funding system to needs is very simple, Kling writes. The very poor and the very sick need help paying for health care. The rest of us do not.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details
Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
matching funding systems, premium medicine, health care finance system, real health insurance, invasive colonoscopy, true health insurance, health care spending, catastrophic health insurance, catastrophic insurance, nonmonetary costs
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Private Insurance, David Cutler, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Policy Ideas, Remaining Lifetime Catastrophic Insurance, Needs Figure, The Rise of Premium Medicine, Medical Guidelines Commission, John Wennberg
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 8 books:
See all 8 books this book cites

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care
85% buy the item featured on this page:
Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care 4.4 out of 5 stars (11)
$13.56
The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care
6% buy
The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care 3.7 out of 5 stars (11)
$12.21
Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis
4% buy
Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis 3.4 out of 5 stars (46)
$9.58
A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care
3% buy
A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care 4.5 out of 5 stars (12)
$18.72
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
(5)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
See all 8 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading, May 16, 2006
By Josh (Boston) - See all my reviews
If you've ever wondered why health care is so expensive in America, Kling will fill you in. Despite what many of us believe(d), it's not because of greedy pharmas or wasteful paperwork - as Kling shows, those ideas just don't hold water to explain the obscene cost hikes in recent years. Kling makes a great case that what has caused our problems is what he calls "premium medicine" - or health care spending whose cost exceeds its benefit.

As for solutions to our problems, Kling does a good job of unraveling many of the claims made by single-payer advocates, most notably that they can control costs without reducing benefits.

And when it comes to his own solutions, I found them to be very sensible (although I think he deliberately keeps them general). For example, he proposes keeping the government involved in funding health care, but ONLY for the poor and chronically ill (unlike in its current form where it also funds the elderly rich). This idea is so sensible - and seems to appeal to those on both sides of the aisle - that I'm surprised we haven't already done it.

All in all, well worth the read. Even if you generally don't like libertarian solutions to today's problems, I think you'll find Kling's book very easy to read, with far less ideology than in most other books on anything as controversial as health care.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Short, Well-Written, and Well-Reasoned, March 26, 2007
By John P. (Kennett Square, PA USA) - See all my reviews
"Crisis of Abundance" should be read by any educated person who wants to understand the healthcare crisis in the U.S. and proposals to remedy it. This short, intelligent book reviews the various theories in play to explain why the U.S. spends so much more (as a percentage of GDP) on healthcare than other developed nations; looks at the "awkward facts" facing each theory; describes the trade-offs that any system for healthcare spending cannot avoid; and presents realistic policy considerations for improvement.

Even if you normally don't read "public policy" books, you should make time for this one. It will give you a solid foundation for evaluating what politicians and pundits say about the healthcare crisis and all the different fixes, both good and bad, that will be offered for your support.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars healthcare finance, May 3, 2008
Probably one of he best critiques of what ails the US healthcare system today. So-called health "insurance" isn't insurance. What is insurable about the risk that I will visit my doctor for an annual physical or my dentist for a cleaning? Why shouldn't I pay these out of pocket and use insurance to pay for what I can't pay out of pocket -- a catastrophic health incident? We get really interested in what we pay for out of our own pockets, but it has to be more than a co-pay or low deducible.

Like Social Security, people are not given an incentive to save for the healthcare needs of old age and Kling recommends a tax-exempt account which, if started at age 30 with annual contributions of $1600 and 3% real interst, would accumulate to $100,000 by age 65. At that time the owner would buy a "rest of life" insurance policy for a $25,000 premium with a $75,000 deductible. Medicare is phased out gradually. Make sense? That's why you'll never seen a politician support it. They can only think in terms of government run programs -- the same government that gave us postal "service", Medicare, and a social security programs whose paltry returns would get a commercial annuity manager fired or jailed for pocketing contributions net of payments instead of paying them to a decedent's estate.

This is a great book to read in an election year when everyone has a solution to healthcare in America.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Reading it on the Kindle
I'm reading this book on the Kindle (and writing this review from the Kindle, also). The content is well-presented and mostly understandable to a noneconomist. Read more
Published 4 months ago by M. Chesebro

4.0 out of 5 stars Crisis of ABundance
It's not as easy of a read as I expected but I believe that it is inciteful and accurate.
Published 8 months ago by Toby

5.0 out of 5 stars The antidote to Michael Moore
Kling does not leap to the quick fix, but he delineates the problems that must be considered in any attempt to restructure the health care system or its funding. Read more
Published on June 24, 2007 by Johnny & Riza

1.0 out of 5 stars Another book from CATO
Taking out the redundancy, this (about) 100 page book could have been made into a 20 page pamphlet. The real point behind this book: expectation of medicine has been increasing... Read more
Published on May 9, 2007 by TJJ

4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult but worth reading
For this reader, "Crisis of Abundance" by Arnold Kling was difficult to read. Fortunately, it is very short, under 100 pages. Read more
Published on April 24, 2007 by B. Case

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid argument stating that not everybody requires extensive health care
Crisis Of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay For Health Care by professional economist Arnold Kling is an in-depth and informative study of the American health care system and the... Read more
Published on June 3, 2006 by Midwest Book Review

5.0 out of 5 stars No Other Book Like This
Health care is a diffiuclt issue for people to discuss honestly today. Arnold Kling has done something rare -- he has provided an honest and objective account of the problems with... Read more
Published on May 16, 2006 by James N. Schulz

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost all you need to understand the healthcare debate
This is a very easy to read book, but contains a wealth of subtle thinking about what's really going on with healthcare. The debate about healthcare is complicated. Read more
Published on May 11, 2006 by Average Reader

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (1 discussion)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
Is America's health care system a success or not? 2 July 2006
› See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Cut Wood Down to Size

Cut Wood Down to Size

Split wood with ease using a log splitter from the Outdoor Power & Lawn Equipment Store.

›Shop all log splitters

  

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
  

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
  

The Selection Is Electric

Shop the Lighting & Electrical Store
From light bulbs to switches, outlets, and wall plates, find what you need in the Lighting & Electrical Store.

›Shop Lighting & Electrical

  

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
3.7 out of 5 stars (224)$6.59
 Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
3.7 out of 5 stars (224)$6.59
 Darkfever
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
3.7 out of 5 stars (216)$0.00
 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 Doyle
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)$0.00

amazon.com Amazon.com Home  |   Directory of All Stores
International Sites:  Canada  |  United Kingdom  |  Germany  |  Japan  |  France  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Build an eCommerce Site  |  Advertise With Us  |  Developer Services  |  Self-Publish with Us
Help  |  View Cart  |  Your Account  |  1-Click Settings
Investor Relations  |  Press Releases  |  Careers at Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates