Trying to have it both ways[review of "Beginnings Count: The Technological Imperative in American Health Care" (Rothman, D.) [Book review

Abstract

This book examines the state of health care in the United States, focusing on health insurance and medical services. How can the United States spend so heavily on health care yet provide so poorly for so many people? The author describes some of the complex interactions between technology and health care that have helped bring this deplorable situation about. This is a book about three medical technologies (the iron lung, dialysis for treatment of chronic kidney failure, andthe ventilator) and three policies (Blue Cross, Medicare, and the failed Clinton health care initiative), artfully arranged as case studies.