This AJN award-winning textbook helps readers understand and critically assess the US health care system and policies. With a focus on the prevalence of disparities in health and health care, the book reviews the historical evolution and organization of our health care system. Several social justice theories are used to critically evaluate current US Healthcare systems and policies, providing readers with various perspectives of the field. Extensive coverage of our health care system’s structures, finances, and performance on a variety of population health indicators provides the necessary background, frameworks, and principles through which the adequacy of alternative health care system financing strategies can be analyzed.

Highlights include:

Analyzes the current US Healthcare system and policies from several social justice theories providing a critical examination of the field.
Examines the historical evolvement of the US health care system, its financing and health care delivery structures, and the prospects for health care reform.
Analyzes disparities in access to health and health care by race, ethnicity, class, age, gender, and geography.
Compares the US health care system with that of other democracies providing a unique comparative perspective.


New to this Edition:

Revised chapter on healthcare reform that considers the 2016 election and anticipated changes to the Affordable Care Act.
Provides the latest information on the financing and organization of the US health care system.
Examines the nation’s health care needs, the prevalence of health and health care disparities, and the latest theories that explain the causal origins of health and health care disparities.
Addresses the latest developments in health care policy domains such as long-term care, end-of-life care, and initiatives to reduce disparities in health.
Updated data on long-term financing and expenditures including baby-boomer’s increased demand for long term services and expanded entitlements for the disabled.
Updated instructor’s resources include for each chapter: chapter synopsis and learning objectives, ideas worth grasping, key terms and concepts, discussion questions, and writing assignments.


This book is an ideal text for graduate courses in health care policy or disparities or the US health care system in schools of social work, public health, nursing, medicine, and public policy and administration.