Health Care for Some: Rights and Rationing in the United States since 1930

by Beatrix Hoffman

In Health Care for Some , Beatrix Hoffman offers an engaging and in-depth look at America’s long tradition of unequal access to health care. She argues that two main features have characterized the US health system: a refusal to adopt a right to care and a particularly American approach to the rationing of care. Health Care for Some shows that the haphazard way the US system allocates medical services—using income, race, region, insurance coverage, and many other factors—is a disorganized, illogical, and powerful form of rationing. And unlike rationing in most countries, which is intended to keep costs down, rationing in the United States has actually led to increased costs, resulting in the most expensive health care system in the world.


While most histories of US health care emphasize failed policy reforms, Health Care for Some looks at the system from the ground up in order to examine how rationing is experienced by ordinary Americans and how experiences of rationing have led to claims for a right to health care. By taking this approach, Hoffman puts a much-needed human face on a topic that is too often dominated by talking heads.

Genres: History, Health Care, Health, Medicine, Nonfiction, Politics, American History

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kristen Johansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from grad school. Learned so much about the history of the American healthcare system, health insurance plans, and the discrimination/reasonings behind our current structure.

[Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been wanting to learn more about the US health system for many years and this book was an excellent primer. I thought this was very readable considering it was such a dense topic and long timespan - I could easily read more than a chapter per sitting. The author's thesis, that rationing has always been part of the US health system, was thorough and persuasive. A main takeaway is I that the AMA sucks and is responsible for a whole host of problems. Another thing that I'm ruminating on is that the incentives of our health system are so backwards because humans in general are better at dealing with short term crises than long term crises. So people got (rightly) outraged at people dying in hospital parking lots and we established a right to emergency care, but there's not the same outrage for chronic health disparities and thus no right to health care in general. So our system incentives people to forgo primary care and use the emergency room for every issue, which is of course the most expensive way we could possibly provide health care. It's absurd, irrational, cruel, and absolutely a form of rationing. There is so much work to be done to fix the system, but I actually didn't realize that the ACA was the most comprehensive health care reform bill in the US, ever, and I'm much more grateful for it having read this book. Maybe one day we'll get to the universal health system people have been fighting for for close to/more than a century...

Shoutout to Angela for the rec! Thank you!

[Omar Al-Zaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered why the United States doesn't have universal healthcare, read this book. In a very enjoyable narrative, Hoffman describes the political history of American health care over the last century, focusing especially on two ideas: The notion of a "right" to health care, and the rationing of it, i.e. its unequal distribution, based on race, economic class, geography, gender, age and other factors.

There have been serious attempts in the past to secure universal health care coverage for all Americans. These attempts were all ultimately shot down, usually at the behest of powerful private interests. Many Americans may be surprised to learn that there is no "right" to healthcare in the United States. Though that sort of language appears in political rhetoric, the laws of the United States simply do not confer a civil right to medical treatment.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting perspectives and historical walkthrough of how healthcare has been rationed through US history. Writing and narrative style left a lot to be desired, but a few good takeaways.

[Belgin · Rating 4 out of 5]

me and my niche interests led me to this book; suffice it to say i got more out of it about the US healthcare system than the system itself.

[Anna Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was fasinating. It explains the evolution of health care in the country. While there is a brief overview of the history pre-1930's, most of the book focuses on what happens after that time. It's amazing and incredible sad to find out that the coversation about health care hasn't changed that much. It's even sadder to think that health care is still "rationed" pretty arbitrarily in this county. This book, however, is not for the faint of heart. There are some really dry, boring section, but it is a must read if you want to understand how health care in the country has developed and evolved (or devolved. . . whatever the case may be.)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an eye opening account into the history and development of the U.S. health care system since 1930. With thorough investigation of historical documents, media coverage and personal stories of those affected by the path our system has taken, Hoffman writes with clarity and compassion. This is a must read for those disgusted with our lack of universal health care coverage for all Americans.