Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle over Health Care Reform

In this remarkable history, Yale sociologist and Pulitzer Prize%E2%80%93winner Starr (The Social Transformation of American Medicine) says that America's contradictions (the opposing values of egalitarianism and self-reliance) are nowhere more evident than in the rancorous history of health care reform. Unlike citizens in other rich capitalist countries, Americans equate public responsibility for health care with a loss of freedom, while health care reformers and critics alike play on our distrust of Big Insurance and Big Government. There couldn't be a more astute insider to the politics of reform than Starr; some of his most riveting elements draw on his experience working on the Clinton administration's health care push, as well as his sharp critique of Obama administration reforms: "Obama would go from a position that was good politics but bad policy during the election to a position that was good policy but bad politics when he was president...." Starr's history of America's battle over whether health care should be a right is an exacting look at politics and policies%E2%80%94and a challenge to Americans to overcome their fear and distrust in order to protect the sick and vulnerable. (Oct.)