Lives at Risk: Single-Payer National Health Insurance Around the World
Thoroughly examines the systemic failures of national health insurance programs around the world. It identifies problems inherent in government-run health care and explains why these problems inevitably emerge. And, it demolishes one by one the prevailing myths put forward by advocates of national health insurance as the solution to issues confronting American health care. (Coverings)The American Medical Association strongly opposes single-payer national health insurance.Lives at Riskprovides a wealth of evidence that confirms the AMA's position. (Donald J. Palmisano, M.D., J.D.)This book will be an eye-opener for anyone who thinks a government-run system is the solution for our health care problem. (Newt Gingrich)With the alarming escalation in the cost of health care, drastic changes are critically needed.Lives at Risknot only presents the magnitude of this problem, but explores possible solutions, including national insurance, to correct it. This is the best book I have read on this subject. (Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H.)A single-payer system has great political appeal. It promises to provide quality health care to all, regardless of income, religion, race, or initial state of health. But does it live up to that promise? In this important book, Goodman, Musgrave, and Herrick set out to find the answer. (from the Foreword by Milton Friedman)Anybody who is tempted by the Canada [single-payer health insurance] model should readLives at Risk. (National Review)Recommended. (Choice)If you're looking for intellectual ammunition to refute the perennial myths about the triumph of socialized medicine in the rest of the developed world, this book is essential. (Journal Of American Medical Association)Goodman, Musgrave and Herrick do not just make a hard-boiled assessment of single-payer systems, then run for cover. Instead of the usual worn-out generalities and obsolete assumptions, they point to specific ways to harness the intelligence of consumers and the power of the free market to improve health care in the U.S.. Regardless of whether the reader agrees with the authors' conclusions,Lives at Riskhelps us to understand how different policy approaches might lead to two very different outcomes for the U.S. health care system: complete meltdown under single-payer health care or transformation into a system driven by consumer demand instead of health care bureaucrats and political expediency. (Health Insurance Underwriter)Goodman and company's book does an especially good job of casting doubt on the common belief that more governmental control of health care will prove more rational, productive, and fair than our current market-state mix. (Reason)