Altman Ch11-Epilogue

To start off Part four of Altman's book, Obama's health care plan is discussed. Obama's main focus for election was his emphasis on a new healthcare system. The healthcare that he instituted and broadened, is the idea of universal healthcare. Supposedly he received advice from certain economists which include, two other men and Stuart Altman, the author of the book. Throughout chapter eleven, the aspects of this "universal healthcare" are mentioned. One such aspect includes employer-sponsored insurance system. Also the last part of chapter eleven I found rather interesting because it lists the summary of Obama's framework. The cost of this universal healthcare is discussed a bit, but in the summary it talks about expanding Medicaid for low-income individuals, which would automatically raise costs. The Book goes onto talk about past politicians who wanted to see universal healthcare become a reality. One major person that was mentioned was Ted Kennedy, which in a way creates emotion from the reader because it talks about Ted Kennedy's brain cancer, and that he fought for universal healthcare toward the very end. Throughout chapter twelve, Altman talks about historical background and how hospitals work with this specific healthcare. Then in chapter thirteen, fourteen. fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen discusses the processes and details of Obama's universal healthcare. Then once again chapter nineteen talks about cost control, and mentions several health organizations and the GDP and OMB. The epilogue at the end of the book summarizes how history prominently influenced the path the U.S. is on today concerning healthcare systems.