Toward a Healthy Society: The Morality and Politics of American Health Care Reform

by Fisk, Milton

• ISBN13: 9780700610143
• ISBN10: 0700610146
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS

Summary

Taking in the broad sweep of social policy in the last half-century, Fisk (philosophy, Indiana University) describes the shift from welfare toward competitiveness as a key factor in the rise of corporate care in the United States. He analyzes the failure of the Clinton health care plan and argues that its commitment to corporate health care was at odds with its reforming intent. He then proposes a national health insurance program funded by a progressive income tax. Blending philosophy, economics, and public policy analysis, Fisk also discusses the role of health care as a public good, and considers the relationship between health and environmental factors.

Author Biography

Milton Fisk is professor emeritus of philosophy at Indiana University.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction. Political Morality and Public Goods	1	(18)
Part I. Locating Obstacles to Health Care Reform	19	(68)
The Decline of Compassion and Solidarity	21	(22)
The Struggle to Define Patients' Needs	43	(22)
How Corporate Medicine Limits Reform	65	(22)
Part II. Redirecting Health Care Ethics	87	(72)
Collective Provision, Markets and the Public Good	89	(22)
Just Health Care and the Common Good	111	(25)
Democracy Versus Corporatist Decision Making	136	(23)
Part III. Making the Transition to Reform	159	(92)
Finance and the Origins of Corporate Health Care	161	(26)
Toward a Radical Politics of Reform	187	(20)
The Struggle for a Healthy Society: Business and Medicine Against the Public Good	207	(25)
Market Failures and Social Values in Health Care	232	(19)
Notes	251	(32)
Index	283