Healthy, wealthy & fair health care and the good society

395 Pages·2011·5.166 MB·English

by  Jacobs, Lawrence R.;Morone, James A

Healthy, Wealthy, & Fair:
Health Care and the
Good Society
JAMES A. MORONE
LAWRENCE R. JACOBS,
Editors
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
HEALTHY,
WEALTHY,
FAIR
&
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HEALTHY,
WEALTHY,
FAIR
&
Health Care and the Good Society
 
 .  
 . 
3

3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Healthy, wealthy, and fair / health care and the good society /
edited by James A. Morone and Lawrence R. Jacobs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13978----
ISBN---
. Health—Social aspects—United States. . Medical economies—United States.
. Equality—Health Aspects—United States. . Capitalism—Health aspects—United States.
. Medical policy—United States.
[DNLM: . Health Policy—United States. . Delivery of Health Care—economics—
United States. . Health Planning—United States. . Insurance, Health—economics—
United States. . Politics—United States. . Socioeconomic Factors—United States.
WA  AA H ] I. Morone, James A., – II. Jacobs, Lawrence R.
RA..UH 
.'—dc 
        
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To LAWRENCE D. BROWN
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Acknowledgments
T
his book began as a passionate conversation. Healthy, Wealthy, and
Fair is our effort to spread the alarm about Americans’ poor health.
We describe the trouble, explain how it developed, and suggest what the
United States can do about it.
The authors came together thanks to an extraordinary program. The
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Investigator Awards gives schol-
ars several years to think hard about creating a healthier society. Bar-
bara Krimgold (our intellectual godmother) and Al Tarlov (our godfa-
ther) directed the program and inspired, advised, and cheered us. David
Mechanic and Lynn Rogut took over the program halfway through our
project and offered us splendid guidance, encouragement, and support. At
Oxford University Press, Dedi Felman was a dream editor and Heather
Hartman transformed our manuscript into this elegant volume.
Many colleagues pitched in with suggestions. Thanks to Jason Bar-
nosky, Phil Brown, Dalton Conley, Jim House, Rick Mayes, Ted Mar-
mor, Larry Mishel, Andre Schiffrin, and Leo Wiegman. Kelli Auerbach,
Jason Barnosky, and Michael Illuzzi researched, shaped, and polished the
manuscript. Special thanks to Jim Knickman and David Colby at the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And we all fondly remember Sol
Levine, former director of the Investigator program, as a wise mentor
and kind friend.
We dedicate the book to our friend and colleague, Larry Brown of
Columbia University. Larry chaired our fi rst meetings, helped organize
the book, and kept reminding us of both the forest and the trees. More
important, for the last quarter century, Larry has been our intellectual
model. One after another he whips off his snappy, elegant, edgy, droll,
sober, razor-sharp essays about American politics. Larry manages to be
wise and funny, cool and kind. Through it all, he remains a steadfast
realist while never forgetting the great prize—a good and generous
community.
And that, fi nally, is what brought us together and inspired our book:
imaging a better society and a healthier community. As you’ll see, this is
a collection of essays that sums to something more. It is also an invitation
to join the authors in the quest for an America that is genuinely healthy,
wealthy, and fair.
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
Contents
Contributors xi
Introduction: Health and Wealth in the Good Society 
 .    . 
Part I. An American Dilemma

Why the United States Is Not Number One in Health 
 

Health Disparities in the Land of Equality 
 . 
Part II. Corrosive Markets

How Market Ideology Guarantees Racial Inequality 
 

The Dangers of the Market Panacea 
 
Part III. Silent Groups

Organized Labor’s Incredible Shrinking Social Vision 
 

Interest Groups and the Reproduction of Inequality 
 . 
ix