The Politics of Health Legislation

by Feldstein, Paul J.

• ISBN13: 9780910701358
• ISBN10: 0910701350
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1988-05-01
• Publisher: Health Administration Pr

Author Biography

Paul J. Feldstein, Ph.D., has been Professor and Robert Gumbiner Chair in Health Care Management at the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine, since 1987. Professor Feldstein has written six books and numerous articles on health economics. When on leave from the university, Professor Feldstein has worked for the Office of Management and Budget, the Social Security Administration, and the World Health Organization

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The Public Interest View of Government	p. 5
The Economic Theory of Regulation	p. 8
Contrasts Between the Public Interest and Economic Theories	p. 13
Criteria for Evaluating Alternative Theories	p. 15
Types of Legislation to be Examined	p. 17
An Economic Version of the Interest Group Theory of Government	p. 23
The Demanders of Legislative Benefits	p. 23
The Suppliers of Legislative Benefits	p. 29
Concluding Comments	p. 44
The Relative Success of Health Associations	p. 53
Similarity of Members' Interests	p. 53
The "Free Rider" Problem	p. 60
Costs of Organizing a Group	p. 65
Size of the Potential Benefits	p. 66
Uncertainty	p. 66
Concluding Comments	p. 68
The Demand for Legislation by Health Associations	p. 75
The Motivation of Health Associations	p. 76
Framework for Analyzing Legislative Behavior	p. 78
Implications of the Legislative Success of Health Associations	p. 111
Concluding Comments	p. 113
The Reasons for Deregulation	p. 121
Examples of Deregulated Industries	p. 122
The Reasons for Deregulation	p. 140
Concluding Comments	p. 144
The Emergence of Market Competition in the U.S. Healthcare System	p. 149
U.S. Medical System Before Market Competition	p. 149
Emergence of Market Competition	p. 154
Implications of Market Competition in Medical Care	p. 163
Concluding Comments	p. 169
The Control of Externalities: Medical Research, Epidemics, and the Environment	p. 175
Political Support Maximization as a Basis for Government when There Are Externalities	p. 177
Federal Support for Medical Research	p. 179
Public Crises as a Cause for Government Intervention	p. 184
Concluding Comments	p. 199
Redistributive Programs	p. 209
A Theory of Broad Redistributive Programs	p. 210
Examples of Charitable Redistributive Programs	p. 215
Examples of Universal Redistributive Programs	p. 220
Political Power of the Elderly	p. 229
Concluding Comments	p. 233
Medicare	p. 243
The Passage of Medicare	p. 245
Economic Interests	p. 245
The Redistributive Effects of Medicare and Medicaid	p. 254
Concluding Comments	p. 265
Healthcare Reform	p. 275
The Objectives of National Health Insurance	p. 275
The Defeat of President Clinton's Healthcare Plan	p. 285
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996	p. 290
Concluding Comments	p. 293
The Self-Interest Paradigm and the Politics of Health Legislation	p. 297
Producer Regulation	p. 301
Legislation Providing for Medical Research, Protection Against Epidemics, and a Clean Environment	p. 303
Redistributive Legislation	p. 305
The Legislative Outlook	p. 307
Index	p. 315
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.