Theodore R. Marmor

First published in 1997, this volume examines why, while mature welfare states are being trimmed and privatised, new social welfare arrangement are implemented in formerly communist and newly industrialised countries. The papers in this volume bring together these different worlds, but also different academic approaches. Micro-economic analyses of social insurance and welfare systems are joined with broader political descriptions of social policy in such disparate regions as Scandinavia, China, Italy, Poland and South Africa. They give the reader a sense of the fundamental problem of finding a social welfare system that fits specific economic and cultural conditions. This volume is the second in a series on international studies of issues in social security. The series is initiated by the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS). One of its aims is to confront different academic approaches with each other, and with public policy perspectives. Another is to give analytic reports of cross-nationally different approaches to the design and reform of welfare state programs. The present and next volume form a twin set in the sense that they both are based on selections from papers presented at seminars held by FISS in 1994-1996.

First published in 1997, this volume examines why, while mature welfare states are being trimmed and privatised, new social welfare arrangement are implemented in formerly communist and newly industrialised countries. The papers in this volume bring together these different worlds, but also different academic approaches. Micro-economic analyses of social insurance and welfare systems are joined with broader political descriptions of social policy in such disparate regions as Scandinavia, China, Italy, Poland and South Africa. They give the reader a sense of the fundamental problem of finding a social welfare system that fits specific economic and cultural conditions. This volume is the second in a series on international studies of issues in social security. The series is initiated by the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS). One of its aims is to confront different academic approaches with each other, and with public policy perspectives. Another is to give analytic reports of cross-nationally different approaches to the design and reform of welfare state programs. The present and next volume form a twin set in the sense that they both are based on selections from papers presented at seminars held by FISS in 1994-1996.

Cash transfers are but one form of income supplementation, and a fuller presentation of antipoverty proposals would include both transfers in-kind (such as food, housing, and medical care) and human investment programs aimed at increasing the earning capacity of individuals. Much discussion has centered on how to reduce poverty by getting more cash income in the hands of poor people. This collection brings together in one accessible volume the most widely discussed plans for reducing financial poverty in the United States through cash transfers.

Two towering figures in the field of health care policy analysis, Theodore R. Marmor and Rudolf Klein, reflect on a lifetime of thought in this wide-ranging collection of essays published in the wake of President Obama’s health care reform. Presented as a kind of dialogue between the two, the book offers their recent writings on the future of Medicare; universal health insurance; conflicts of interest among physicians, regulators, and patients; and many other topics.

This book offers a timely account of health reform struggles in developed democracies. The editors, leading experts in the field, have brought together a group of distinguished scholars to explore the ambitions and realities of health care regulation, financing, and delivery across countries. These wide-ranging essays cover policy debates and reforms in Canada, Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as separate treatments of some of the most prominent issues confronting policy makers. These include primary care, hospital care, long-term care, pharmaceutical policy, and private health insurance. The authors are attentive throughout to the ways in which cross-national, comparative research may inform national policy debates not only under the Obama administration but across the world.

Cash transfers are but one form of income supplementation, and a fuller presentation of antipoverty proposals would include both transfers in-kind (such as food, housing, and medical care) and human investment programs aimed at increasing the earning capacity of individuals. Much discussion has centered on how to reduce poverty by getting more cash income in the hands of poor people. This collection brings together in one accessible volume the most widely discussed plans for reducing financial poverty in the United States through cash transfers.

No one misses the onslaught of claims about reforming modern medical care. How doctors should be paid, how hospitals should be paid or governed, how much patients should pay when sick in co-payments, how the quality of care could be improved, and how governments and other buyers could better control the costs of care — all find expression in the explosion of medical care conference proceedings, op-eds, news bulletins, journal articles, and books. This collection of articles takes up a key set of what the author regards as particularly misleading fads and fashions — developments that produce a startling degree of foolishness in contemporary discussions of how to organize, deliver, finance, pay for and regulate medical care services in modern industrial democracies. The policy fads addressed include the celebration of explicit rationing as a major cost control instrument, the belief in a “basic package” of health insurance benefits to constrain costs, the faith that contemporary cross-national research can deliver a large number of transferable models, and the notion that broadening the definition of what is meant by health will constitute some sort of useful advance in practice.

No one misses the onslaught of claims about reforming modern medical care. How doctors should be paid, how hospitals should be paid or governed, how much patients should pay when sick in co-payments, how the quality of care could be improved, and how governments and other buyers could better control the costs of care — all find expression in the explosion of medical care conference proceedings, op-eds, news bulletins, journal articles, and books. This collection of articles takes up a key set of what the author regards as particularly misleading fads and fashions — developments that produce a startling degree of foolishness in contemporary discussions of how to organize, deliver, finance, pay for and regulate medical care services in modern industrial democracies. The policy fads addressed include the celebration of explicit rationing as a major cost control instrument, the belief in a “basic package” of health insurance benefits to constrain costs, the faith that contemporary cross-national research can deliver a large number of transferable models, and the notion that broadening the definition of what is meant by health will constitute some sort of useful advance in practice.

The reform of American medical care is the most important topic on the nation's domestic agenda and the centerpiece of the Clinton administration's plans for social policy and long-term economic development. This book, written by a preeminent analyst of medical politics and policy who is a frequent adviser to Congress, helps to clarify the current debate over the President's bill and the proposed alternatives to it. It is essential reading for 1994. Theodore Marmor, whose work has appeared in scholarly journals and books, as well as in the nation's major newspapers and magazines, here presents some of his most recent writings that illuminate the historical, political, and economic considerations lying behind various proposals now under debate. Marmor explains what we can and cannot expect from reform of American medicine, and he addresses the many conflicting claims about the remedies for America's problems with medical costs, quality, access, and organizations. He discusses, for example:—the misplaced faith that cutting waste will greatly ease our financial troubles and markedly improve our health;—the exaggerated arguments for "managed competition";—the myths that either non-profit or for-profit institutions are the key to reform;—the misleading and fearful debate over rationing;—the lessons to be learned from Canada's and Japan's experiments with universal health insurance;—the controversial place of Medicare in the current reform struggle;—barriers facing implementation of any of the major health care proposals;—and the possibility of fusing different approaches to achieve reform.

This book sets the record straight about the nation's welfare programs, showing that the gloom and doom surrounding public discussion stem from false ideas about what these programs are and how they work.

The role of government in medical care, however contentious and bewildering, is increasingly important given that the finance of medical care in Western democracies is now dominated by public expenditures. Why do governments choose the medical programs they do? How do particular struggles in medical care illustrate more general political conflicts? This book stems from Marmor's conviction that political science can provide answers to questions such as these. Furthermore, the essays presented here demonstrate that political analysis is a crucial element of any sensible approach to policy making. The essays are grouped intro three parts. Firstly, how the general findings of a political science illuminate disputes over medical care. Secondly, looks at political conflict in American medicine, such as paying doctors, representing consumers and restraining inflation. Lastly, the essays tie different sorts of political analysis to the appraisal of issues such as national health insurance in the 1970s and procompetitive reform in the early 1980s.