Reviews for The Philosophy of Medicine Reborn: A Pellegrino Reader

The average rating for The Philosophy of Medicine Reborn: A Pellegrino Reader based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-01-27 00:00:00 Willette Swann This book might be the most apropos book I have ever read, given the current state of affairs in the U.S. government and the whole Obamacare (aka Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA) debacle. I read this book for my Sociology of Health, Illness, and Medicine class, and before that class, I knew close to nothing about ACA or, for that matter, the U.S. health care system in general. Budrys manages to offer a reasonably comprehensive introduction to the major components and considerations of the complicated mess that is the U.S health care system as well as some information on systems in other countries (eg. Canada, England, Germany, Japan, etc.). While Budrys comes from a sociology background, she approaches the issue of health care in a holistic way and includes ideas and explanations from both economics and political science as well. One of the core agendas for the book is to determine, with all the data available, relatively how well the U.S. health care system is doing. Budrys, however, leaves that question open ended and asks the readers to form our own beliefs about the state of our health care and the various issues still up in the air. While Budrys does comment on quality of care, she for the most part focuses on access to and cost of health coverage. For those not yet aware of the many, complicated implications of Obamacare or about the state of the health insurance in the U.S. and who want to get a bit more in depth understanding, I would recommend reading this third edition. On a side note, the third edition was published in 2011, so most of the facts are pretty current, unless Congress decides to change the system yet again. I doubt ACA will get repealed though.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-04-05 00:00:00 William J Rulo My favorite line in the book, "That brings me back to a question that came up in the first chapter to which I said I would return later, namely, why do people from other countries come here for health care? Doesn't that prove that it is the best health system in the world? My answer is that they do so to get around the "queue," that is, the waiting line. In most countries, the doctors decide whose case is most urgent and should be dealt with first. In this country, there are always ways to get ahead of the line. Individuals, including for- eigners, can and do get the services they want, if they are willing to pay for that privilege. What do you think? What are the pros and cons of making excellent and expedient health care services available to foreigners as well as fellow Americans who are in a better position to pay for those services? Would you say that this might have the effect of pushing some Americans to the end of the line or out of the line entirely?"