Review by Choice Review
Halvorson, chair and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, presents a well-defined, comprehensive plan for health care reform in a purely functional form, stating, "I don't approach these problems from an academic perspective." Prefacing his plan with a description of the problems of the US health care "nonsystem," he offers a model for reform that would incorporate the "best features of the American health insurance system and the full use of Medicare and Medicaid." He calls his reform proposal "Universal Coverage Now." The key to the new system is an individual coverage mandate. A new "HealthPrime" program would cover all other uninsured people and be administered by the state Medicaid system. Private health plans could join the system. With Halvorson's plan, market forces would be engaged, albeit with a new set of incentives. With increases in demand as a result of increased funding, there is concern about supply shortages being exacerbated. For another proposal on this timely issue, see Laurence J. Kotlikoff's recent The Healthcare Fix: Universal Insurance for All Americans (CH, Apr'08, 45-4499). Halvorson's book is valuable for general readers and a good resource for students of health care if accompanied by some economic analysis. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Public and undergraduate library collections. F. W. Musgrave Ithaca College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
