Health Care Policy

Medical Gridlock and Health Reform. By Eli Ginzberg. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994. 194 p. $55.00 ©.
In this book Ginzberg identifies the major problems in the health care field. He begins with a historical overview of health care during the past fifty years focusing on the impact of World War II. He then examines the roles and the challenges the market, the poor, and the uninsured present to the U.S. health care system. Some of the issues the author explores include health care personnel, non-profit organizations, global budgets, advanced medical technology, Ginzberg concludes with an analysis of the current health care debate and he provides us with some possible solutions for reform.

The Private Regulation of American Health Care. By Betty Leyerle. New York: M.E. Sharpe Incorporated, 1994. 191 p.
Leyerle examines the system of managed competition and the private regulation of health care in the United States. She asserts that bureaucratic organizations are a part of society's new values, but they are dividing and polarizing individuals from the health care system. She begins with the definitions of managed competition and private regulation. Leyerle then describes the evolution of regulation, deregulation, and formal legislative controls over the past twenty-two years, along with the creation of managed care. This book attempts to highlight the limitations of bureaucratic organizations and their outputs through analyzing the American health care system.

The Politics of Health Care Reform: Lessons from the Past, Prospects for the Future. Edited by James A. Morone and Gary S. Belkin. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994. 522 p. $49.95 ©, $19.95 (p).
Morone and Belkin present a volume of diverse essays that describe the politics underlying the health care structure. The authors survey the past eighty years of health care reform movements explaining the surges and declines in its political popularity. They assert that currrent reforms must contend with the legacies left by past policies because the policies have shaped the politics around health care. They also intend to use health care policy as "a window onto the nature of American politics itself" (p.4). The book explores such topics as timing, the response of businesses and institutions, along with issues of federalism and popular support. They conclude with a section on "Lessons from Abroad" that situates the politics of the United States in context with health care reforms in other developed countries. This volume claims that most policy is created for the middle class, which excludes the poor and creates a narrow spectrum of policies that shape America.

Evaluating The National Health Service Reforms. Edited by Ray Robinson and Julian Le Grand. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1994. 260 p. $19.95 (p).
This book is the eighth volume in a series of books entitled "Reshaping the Public Sector." This volume focuses on the United Kingdom's National Health Service reforms and the future of British health policy. Each chapter is an explanation and summary of specific area of health care. These research reports were completed as a part of the oversight function of Parliament through the King's Fund fellowship program. The authors tackle a variety of subjects ranging from perfomance of trusts and managed competition to equity implications of the new reforms.

Mental Disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Concise Compliance Manual for Executives. By John F. Fielder. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1994. 216 p. $45.00 ©.
This manual provides information about the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for organizations with fifteen or more employees. Fielder discusses the myths around mental disabilities and he provides guidelines for compliance with the Act to protect organizations from charges of discrimination. He explains penalities and consequences of non-compliance and he also delves into questions regarding psychological treatment as well as reasonable accomodations for employees. This is an informative guide for those organizations with fifteen or more employees and for those individuals involved in human resources or legal counsel.

The Disabled, the Media, and the Information Age. Edited by Jack A. Nelson. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994. 264 p. $55.00 ©.
This volume hails the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as a significant step and a major contribution towards assisting the disabled in improving their situation. The authors examine portrayals of the disabled in the media and are encouraged by the message. They believe that recently the media has portrayed images that depict "a greater closeness of the human condition" (p.X, "Preface"). The authors also explore the historical evolution of media portrayals of disabled individuals, along with the continuing challenges and key issues in communication and technology. Along with the description and analysis, there is a useful reference list of organizations that concern themselves with the disabled for those interested.

Other Policy Interests

Comparable Worth: Is It a Worthy Policy?. By Elaine Sorensen. Princeton, NJ: Princteon University Press, 1994. 166 p.
This book examines the difference in pay between men and women. She maintains that comparable worth is an important goal, but how it is enacted in different states has made crucial differences towards shrinking the gender gap in pay. Her book updates much of the research done by the National Academy of Sciences that was published in 1981 (Women, Work, and Wages: Equal Pay for Jobs of Equal Value. Edited by Donald J. Treiman and Heidi I. Hartman). Sorensen describes the doctrine of comparable worth as meaning that women who work in a predominantly female field should be payed comparable to men who work in a predominately male field. Although, the work needs to be similar in demands, responsibilities, skills required, and effort involved for there to be valid comparisons. She explains that the gender gap has reduced along with the severve "occupational segregation" (p.4)over the past twenty-five years, but the problems still persist.

Who Makes Public Policy: The Struggle For Control Between Congress and the Executive. Edited by Robert S. Gilmour and Alexis A. Halley. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers, 1994. 400 p. $29.95 (p).
Robert Gilmour and Alexis Halley edit a collected work of ten case studies that were sponsored by the National Academy of Public Administration. In the introductory chapter, "The Struggle for Control of Policy and Program Development," Gilmour and Halley explain that while numerous departments of government, private interests, and varied individuals have imput on the creation of policy, this volume intends to focus on the two major contributors to national policy: Congress and the Executive. Although, the Congress and the Executive have "structural tendencies toward disagreement" (p.4), most policies "have been developed by joint branch implementation of specialized programs" (p.4). The authors claim that most policies must contend with the legacy of previous programs that have not produced the calculated results those policies promised. The volume is divided into two sections: "Domestic Issues" and "Defense Issues". Beyond this, each essay follows a consistent framework that includes: "(1) the policy context; (2) key events between the branches during a specific time period, with an emphasis on the role of Congress in developing and directing the specifics of policies and programs; and (3) effects of congressional intervention and executive response as perceived by participants and by the prinicpal investigators of each case" (p.13).

Public Policy and the Two States of Kansas. Edited by H. George Frederickson. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1994. 216 p. $17.95 (p).
George Frederickson explores the paradox that most citizens experience in terms of public policy. He explains that we know more about national policy and less about state policy, even though it is the state policy that affects us more often, especially during the period of reduction in government spending under Presidents Reagan and Bush. This volume examines the policy paradox in the state of Kansas in tax and expenditure policy and it focuses on five controversial policy fields to analyze some of the different debates around whose intesests are heard. These five policy areas include: state eductation finance; public health; transportation; public welfare; and corrections. Throughout the volume there is a subtheme that managing policy problems is an almost "impossible job" because of the complex problems we ask the government to solve. They conclude with some recommendations for simplifications in policies to make them easier to implement.

Making Schools Work: Aview From the Firing Lines. Edited by Cheryl L. Fagano and Katherine Nouri Hughes. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994. 140 p. $39.95 ©.
This volume asks the fundamental question "How do we improve schools?" and attempts to provide some solutions to this complex problem. This book is a collection of essays written after the third annual Milken Family Foundation National Educator Awards Retreat. Included is work that surveys education reform from the economics of public schools to the effects of good leadership. The collection of essays and remarks present the reader with both a picture of schools currently and a set of possibilities to make the public school more effecive in the future. The theme presented both at the retreat and thoughout the book is the idea that there is "a link between educational excellence and educational leadership" (p.103). The authors conclude that practioner leadership is necessary for educational reform.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Labor Discrimination and Public Policy. Edited by Paul Bernstein. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994. 414 p. $54.95 ©, $25.95 (p).
This book contains numerous essays on every aspect of discrimination in employment. Bernstein presents a volume that is filled with major scholars in history, economics, sociology, political science, and law discussing the effects that equal employment and discrimination has had on the United States labor market. One of the eight sections of the book focuses on theories of discrimination and another delves into "organizational consequences of equal employment laws" for workers and employers in the United States. There is also a section that places these laws in context with the international economy and laws of Britain and Japan. This volume is a broad introductory survey of the main issues regarding equal opportunity and the labor market analyzed from many different disciplines.

Immigration and Refugee Policy: Australia and Canada Compared, Volumes I & II. Edited by Howard Adelman, Allan Borowski, Meyer Burstein, and Lois Foster. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1994. $24.95 per volume (p).
These volumes constitute an enormous comparative study between two countries, Australia and Canada, in just about every aspect of refugee policy. Volume I contains an analysis of the policymaking, the implementation, and the general refugee policy process in each country. This places the study in appropriate context for both of the countries. Volume II focuses on the settlement of immigrants and refugees. There is also a portion dedicated to the impacts of immigration on the economies, the environments, and the societies. The editors chose Australia and Canada for their similarities in history of early European settlements, large land areas with harsh climates, relatively small populations, and both have planned immigration programs with refugee and humanitarian components. It is a comprehensive work that takes into account history, politics, economics, climate, geography, and culture as a part of the analysis of immigration and refugee policy in these countries.