The Staff of the Washington Post
ISBN 978-1-58648-934-2Published by Perseus:Public Affairs in 2010
In Short: A clear and concise introduction to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
The staff at the Washington Post who have been involved in covering the health care reform in the Unite States have compiled this succinct report on how the 2010 health-care reform bill came about and was passed and what is known about what the reform means.
In my opinion, if you are interested in learning what these changes are all about you are left with three options; 1) read the 906 page bill, 2) read / view / hear the collective reporting in mass media or 3) leaf through the 277 pages of this book. I've started #1, have grown incredibly fatigued from #2, and was delighted with the overview provided in Landmark.
I would encourage potential readers to also watch the PBS Frontline episodes "Sick Around America" and "Sick All Over the World" which review the health care systems (good and bad) in several countries. Perhaps not so surprisingly, it appears the reform bill mainly represents political hijacking and was minimally informed by lessons learned in other countries if at all. As the first chapters of Landmark clearly demonstrate as they bring the reader along on the lobbying and vote gathering escapades of congressional leaders, reform and compromise in this case are mutually exclusive. As, e.g., Taiwan, Switzerland, Germany and Japan have demonstrated significant systematic progress in health care will require some near term social and political pain.
By the way if you are hoping to read anything of direct substance about EMS in either the full bill or in this book, you'll be disappointed. As with many things, the devil will be in the details and the details have been deferred. You can rest assured, however, that as reported by JEMS the National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC) has provided a position statement on the role of EMS in health care reform.
