The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T. R. Reid (2009, Hardcover)

Synopsis
It is difficult to imagine a more significant or relevant work of nonfiction being released in 2009 than T.R. Reid's endlessly informative and exceptionally lucid analysis of the American health care crisis. Reid conclusively demonstrates that, in terms of overall health care, citizens in the United States spend more and receive less for their money than the people of any other developed nation in the world. This is exemplified when Reid travels to various countries seeking treatment for a chronic shoulder injury. In America, a renowned orthopedist suggests an outrageously expensive and risky joint replacement surgery, while various European doctors prescribe physical therapy, and an Indian clinic wins the prize with a regiment of herbs and massage. An eternal optimist, Reid cites our embarrassing lack of a health care system as an opportunity to learn from the qualities and problems of all the other existing systems. After identifying the inherent flaws which plague the American health care industry, Reid cites specific examples of various programs and initiatives from around the world that have proven to be most successful, primarily culling from the different health care systems of France, Canada, England, Germany, and Japan. Reid's great achievement lies not only in clarifying the mess of issues involved in the America health care debate, but in providing hope that a logical examination of existing health care systems might eventually result in Americans receiving the best health care possible at a price everyone can afford.

Key Details
Author:	T. R. Reid
Language:	English
Publisher:	Penguin Pr
Format:	Hardcover
ISBN-10:	1594202346
ISBN-13:	9781594202346

Additional Details
Edition Number:	1

Size
Length:	277 pages
Thickness:	0.8 in
Weight:	18.4 oz

Publisher's Note
A best-selling author guides a whirlwind tour of successful health-care systems worldwide, disproving American myths of "socialized medicine" to find possible paths toward reform.

Industry Reviews
"Reid...provides a lucid examination of health care around the world, and shows how the United States compares on coverage, cost, quality and choice. The results are humbling."
(09/20/2009)

"[T]his is an invaluable primer....Well-researched and concisely argued, it makes an excellent case for health-care reform as primarily a moral rather than an economic imperative, but Reid has the numbers too, and they're equally compelling."
(09/10/2009)

"A timely survey--filled with important lessons for the United States--of how other nations have created systems that provide universal health care for their citizens....A reasoned, well-balanced, highly readable account, especially welcome as the national debate over health care gets underway." (starred review)
(06/15/2009)

"THE HEALING OF AMERICA is both readable and informative....Reid shows us how other advanced countries easily combine universal coverage and government regulation with entrepreneurialism and respect for market forces to produce high quality, low cost health care -- a simple empirical truth we can no longer afford to ignore."
(09/27/2009)