Reforming America's health care system : the flawed vision of Obamacare /

This is a welcome, timely addition to the literature on health care reform, particularly in reference to the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare). Editor Atlas (senior fellow, Hoover Institution; professor, Stanford Univ. Medical Center) draws contributions from medical doctors, policy experts, economists, and others. Using a list of "ignored facts," Atlas demonstrates the superiority of American medical care to that of other countries. He also recognizes a number of problems in the US system that could be solved by an increase in competition in the health insurance market, transparency in pricing, information about quality issues, and reduction in state mandates that require consumers to purchase insurance covering some services (e.g., wigs, acupuncture) that increase insurance rates and are demanded by only a small minority of the purchasers. The other contributors provide analyses on a range of topics including medical malpractice reform, restrictions on consumer-directed programs such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and the problems inherent in the state health reforms as well as those in Canada and western Europe. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduate students through professionals. F. W. Musgrave Ithaca College