This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  Effective health care reform must address social class, racial and ethnic, and gender inequalities in health and health care.
  
• 
  National health insurance involving a single-payer system would improve many aspects of health and health care in the United States.
  
• 
  In the absence of national health insurance, several types of changes could still help to reduce health care costs.
  

FOR YOUR REVIEW

1. 
   Do you favor or oppose national health insurance for the United States? Explain your answer.
   
2. 
   Why do you think the United States remains the only industrial nation without national health insurance?
   

[1] Bradley, E. H., & Taylor, L. (2011, December 9). To fix health, help the poor. New York Times, p. A39.

[2] Kristof, N. D. (2009, September 3). Health care that works. New York Times, p. A31.

[3] Kristof, N. D. (2009, September 3). Health care that works. New York Times, p. A31.

[4] Kristof, N. D. (2009, September 3). Health care that works. New York Times, p. A31.

[5] Kristof, N. D. (2009, September 3). Health care that works. New York Times, p. A31.

[6] Gawande, A., Berwick, D., Fisher, E., & McClellan, M. (2009, August 13). 10 steps to better health care. New York Times, p. A27.

[7] Weinberger, S. (2011, June 9). Pointless tests drive medical costs skyward: Doctors have to grapple with diagnostic overkill. Philly.com. Retrieved fromhttp://articles.philly.com/2011-06-09/news/29638875_1_ct-scan-testing-health-care-system.

[8] Emanuel, E. J. (2011, November 16). Saving by the bundle. New York Times. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/2011/2016/saving-by-the-bundle.