Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System

I was happy with this purchase. I needed it for a class and the book did not disappoint.

Product was worn but useable

Shipped quickly and arrived in excellent condition, with code included, which was helpful since I used the included online quizzes to study for my actual class exams.

As required reading for my course, it did the job. I found several chapters to be repetitive after the first three, as in "I feel like I already read this". Seems accurate and even confirmed some of my thoughts on healthcare.

Needed this book for one my college classes, and it was actually very insightful! I learned how complex the U.S. healthcare system really is along with the history and reasons. Great book!

Great look into America's healthcare delivery system.

Very good read. I needed it for a class and glad I was able to find it on Amazon.

I struggle to understand this book.1. Several entities/concepts/etc. are referenced throughout the book while not being sufficiently explained until 100+ pages later. An additional explanatory sentence here or there could go a long way in several instances. This is a disappointment for a 5th edition.2. Major governmental entities and their relationships are surprisingly missing from the book. You'd think that there'd be an entire chapter explaining the Department of Health and Human Services and its legion of sub-agencies (CDC, CMS, FDA, NIH, AHRQ, etc.).3. I can't determine who the expected reader of this book is. On one hand, the authors throw terms like MCO, PPO, and HMO at you as early as page 3 with little to no explanation as to what they are, leading me to expect that the intended reader has above average prerequisite knowledge of the industry. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the authors invest many pages covering far more basic concepts like defining what health is, what quality is, and even what a dentist is, leading me to expect that the intended reader have below average knowledge of the industry.4. I wish the authors would come out and say what they obviously believe, "We wish America had a socialist, single-payer system. We know full well that it only works if you significantly ration care (we'll even admit that numerous times throughout the book), and we're fine with it." The last chapter ends on page 351, and if you omit illustrations, citations, etc. you'll get roughly 310 pages. I feel like 5-10% of those 310 pages are the authors passive aggressively bemoaning that we don't have a Bernie-care.5. Some chapters provide truly good information (specific/hard data or intellectual insight about relevant concepts), and some chapters feel like they contain none.Here's my recommended order to read the chapters: 4, 8, 7, 10, 9, and then 6. Read chapter 3 if the history (pre-1980) of the industry interests you. Feel free to skip chapters 1, 2, 5, and 11-14 as the little information they contain probably isn't worth your time.