Review
“This book combines in-depth personal interviews, historical data, and legislative records in an insightful case study of Medicare. The 50-year history of this program is enlivened by a search for patterns based on theories from political science. . . . The book also explores new theories of path dependence and the roles of ideas in public policy in the US.” (Choice )”A brilliant little book, combining a grasp of programmatic and political detail sure to appeal to scholars of health policy with crisp prose and careful argument accessible to policymakers and most of Medicare’s beneficiaries. . . . Oberlander’s analysis is organized around three persistent tensions in Medicare politics: the gap between the program’s promise and its performance; the fiscal and administrative tug-of-war between private provision and public payment; and the political and actuarial dilemma of delivering `service’ benefits on a foundation of social insurance financing. . . . The meat (more…)
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