U.S. Health Policy and Politics: A Documentary History brings together more than 150 primary-source historic documents that will help readers understand how U.S. health policies have evolved to the point where they now exert a tremendous influence over virtually every aspect of American life, from the commercial fortunes of industries to the household budgets of ordinary families. These carefully selected primary sources, including speeches, congressional and courtroom testimony, private letters, classified memoranda, etc., will be supplemented with authoritative original writing that provides vital context for featured documents.

Thematic chapter organization brings together often disparate documents and chronological organization within those chapters helps give students a clearer picture of how events have unfolded over time. Among the high-interest topics that will be examined are trends in insurance costs and coverage; government health care programs; inequities in health care; trends in hospital and physician care and business practice; government regulation of personal health care decisions; and trends in medical research and technology.