The American way of health

American leaders speak of providers. Access. Alliances. Competition. Mandates. As the debate on health-care reform continues, many of us struggle to understand what on earth the experts and policymakers are talking about. To find answers to even our most basic questions - How much will it cost? Can I see my own doctor? Will my medical services be cut? - requires digging through impossibly complicated technical talk. In the meantime we now spend $31,500 a second on medical care, more than $2.7 billion a day, $1 trillion a year. Unchecked, the bill will more than double in the next ten years. The one thing we do know is that something has got to give. . In a brisk and readable style, Janice Castro - who has been covering health care at Time for over a decade - examines American health care, discusses the leading models for reform, and tells us what we would gain and lose with each. Managed-care plans are already transforming private health insurance across the nation, and Janice Castro shows how we can make the most out of them. She gives us the information we need to evaluate President Clinton's reform proposals and the other available alternatives, and explains why costs keep growing and why they're so difficult to control. Straightforward, practical, and authoritative, The American Way of Health guides us through the health-care maze to help us make informed decisions about the most pressing issue on our national agenda today.