Chronic politics : health care security from FDR to George W. Bush /

Funigiello (emer., history, College of William and Mary) has tackled the history of modern American health policy, focusing on how to provide wide, if not universal, access to quality health care. From the passage of Social Security during Roosevelt's administration to the battles over prescription drug benefits during George W. Bush's first administration, the author argues that the failure to provide Americans with health security was not simply a partisan failure, but flowed from the nation's laissez-faire market and individualistic philosophies, and a political system designed to impede radical change. "Simply" is the key word in the preceding sentence: the interlocking nature of policy issues, the ambitions of key players, and the impact of events extraneous to the struggle for health security have combined to hinder the passage of comprehensive reform. The nation, Funigiello concludes, needs to make tough political and economic choices regarding the financing and delivery of its health care. The clock heard ticking in the background is the impending wave of retiring Baby Boomers. Well researched in both primary and secondary sources, this book puts flesh and bones on what, to many, is an abstract topic. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. T. P. Gariepy Stonehill College