In 1948 Americans spent five percent of total consumption on health care. Six decades later (2009) this had risen to twenty-one percent. What happened? Why did the percentage continue to grow? And given current factors and trajectories, this probably will continue in the foreseeable future. The problem is that a larger health care percentage results in a smaller percentage of other valued consumption: housing, food, education, transportation, and so on. Finally, add health cares bureaucratic burden. Often getting health care seems more like an Inquisition than purchasing products and services from friendly merchants and medical providers. Addressing these concerns, this study examines the post-war economic history of health care spending is examined, using evolutionary economic theory and an econometric model analyzing 19482009 data. Important causes of health care spending growth include: 1. the initial rule change permitting employers to exclude employee health insurance premiums from taxation, 2. a feedback pattern wherein greater insurance generates greater spending, which then generates greater insurance demand, 3. a growing federal presence, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and 4. the rise of both private and public managed care services. With an ever-growing percentage of health care dollars paid by insurance, it is becoming ever-more bureaucratic, with rules governing every aspect of health care practices. The conundrum is how to get those consuming health care to become more responsible, while providing a safety net for everyone needing health care, even for those without an ability to pay. The Conclusion discusses these issues.
The book gives a comprehensive introduction for interested general readers, into the development and structure of concepts, ideas and theory formation about the elementary building blocks of matter, the forces with which these particles interact and about the fundamental nature of space itself. Einsteins theory of the cosmos and the recent discovery of the presence of a dark energy which leads to an accelerated expansion of cosmic space, provide the background for the most astonishing recent developments in the search for the origin of space and matter. The String-Theory revolution has led to the notion that nature may not follow one unique set of laws to build worlds, but that innumerable many possible universes may exist, that worlds may be emerging and disappearing like biological species and that our existence may be extraordinarily rare and therefore precious. An introduction to the concept of emergence in self-organizing systems is given to make the connection to the idea that Emergence may be the inherent creative property of space and matter at the quantum level.
The authors suggest that some of the problems of the public sector are self-inflicted and that current policies may only deliver partial success 'at a price we cannot afford'. It proposes a radical alternative and discusses practical ways it could be implemented. It also explores the threats and opportunities that such an approach might face.