Health policy entails the goals and decisions made so as to achieve the various health care objectives in the society. It just stipulates the future vision and establishes the expected roles of the people concerned in the health matters in the society. Health care in America has come a long way. In the recent past, health care was quite an expensive entity, but leaders have put in place measures to ensure that proper health services are accessible to every citizen. For instance, there is the Affordable care Act or else known as Obamacare, which was enacted into law by President Obama on March 2010. This act faced many financial challenges and high political controversies. According to Ezekiel Emanuel, who was a professor of health policy and medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, medical care has come a long way, and it can be seen as quite a distinctly American story. In his book, he explains how ACA has brought many changes in reshaping the current health care system. He further brings to light the importance of America’s health sector, which makes up the largest employment sector, and whose size in the economy that can be compared to the GDP of France (Emanuel, 2014). His work has been elaborated in a well-informed and provocative manner. The primary aim of this paper is to establish how the content of the book Reinventing American Health Care by Ezekiel J. Emanuel compares to the work of Paul Starr in The Social Transformation of American Medicine.
The book, The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr has provided descriptive information as it is a summary of the transformation of American medicine. It can be viewed as a landmark in the history of medicine. It explains significant periods from the late colonial period through the 1980s. I picked this book because it is well detailed and written from an informative point of view. It is not a leisurely read; it is quite a serious book that can be well understood by taking a keen interest. Most importantly, I picked the book because it clearly brings out the history of American medicine and why the current health sector is the way it is. It fills many gaps and describes who is to blame for the present state of health care in America. It is also in line with the subject of discussion.
The transformation of American medicine has never gotten such a comprehensive and authoritative critique. This book is of much interest especially in line with health policy as it shows how it all began and most importantly explains why the state of health care is at it is currently. It also shows why health policy is a vital aspect in the country. The work of Paul Starr is also of great interest as it describes that healthcare, which is a fundamental aspect of both public and human concern, was not considered so, but now became an issue of business concern. It shows the powers that physicians have in transforming the medical sector and how they could be the reason why medical care is expensive today (Starr, 1982, p.219). Therefore, the book is of great importance as it bridges the gap between the states of healthcare in the colonial times through to the 1980s and how it has affected today’s health sector.
The book is in line with Ezekiel’s work to a great extent as it brings out the importance of the area of health and how critical it can be. The book provides a description of how American physicians amassed more political and social power than other doctors in other parts of the world. The book is simply an addition to the work of Ezekiel. Despite the similarities, it also brings out the aspect of Affordable Care Act, which was a critical entity in Ezekiel’s work. The ACA was an important reform, and it contributed significantly to reducing medical rates for the uninsured. The work of Paul challenges the thoughts of Ezekiel as it brings out an important fact, which is that the ACA did not change the basic business plan by reducing pharmaceutical corporate profits and insurance subsidization or even the aspect of organized medicine (Starr 1982, p.110). In essence, the ACA might have been a great reform in the health sector, but there are still some gaps that need to be filled.
Ezekiel pointed out that physicians have the power to change the medical profession to a better one or a worse one. The book is also in line with Ezekiel’s text as it shows how sensitive and critical physicians are in the medical sector. The current situation of the medical industry today can be blamed on making it a business concern instead of human interest. There is a progressive enfranchisement of the medical profession. In essence, the doctors had the ability to control the private medical market for their interest: “the medical profession has had a particularly persuasive claim to authority” (Starr, 1982, p.4). Take for instance, when the AMA membership became a necessity in the 1900s. The national organization ensured that patent medicines were banned from national newspapers. There was also a prohibition of advertising prescribed drugs to the public so that only doctors could approve of their prescriptions (Starr, 1982, p.219).This could only result in an increased amount to be paid for both the physician’s visit and the prescription. This is a clear evidence of how health care became quite expensive from the 1900s and how it is reflected today.
Evidently, there is nothing that is perfect and despite the descriptive nature of the books, there are various issues that were not dealt with. Given a chance, I would add a chapter on the solutions that could be adopted so as to make sure that the health care sector is not resistant to reforms. From the past, various leaders have faced a great challenge in making changes to the health sector, but if there are some solutions now that it is evident the physicians have significant power in the area of health, then it is possible that there could be some sustainable reforms.
In conclusion, Paul Starr has done an impressive job in the book in question; it would be wonderful to have more of such writers with such an undying spirit to write about issues that affect the society and also be a source of change.
References
Emanuel, E. (2014). Reinventing American health care. New York, NY: Public Affairs.
Starr, P. (1982). The Social Transformation of American Medicine. Basic Books.
