By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Paul Starr’s Remedy and Reaction – Book Review
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Paul Starr’s Remedy and Reaction – Book Review
Policy & Law

Paul Starr’s Remedy and Reaction – Book Review

Brad Wright
Brad Wright
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

The passage of the Affordable Care Act has seen a number of books published about how the law was designed and successfully enacted, written by a wide range of authors from Tom Daschle to a team of Washington Post reporters. However, if you’re only going to read one book on the ACA and health reform, it should be Paul Starr’s Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform, which is due out from Yale University Press on October 25th.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act has seen a number of books published about how the law was designed and successfully enacted, written by a wide range of authors from Tom Daschle to a team of Washington Post reporters. However, if you’re only going to read one book on the ACA and health reform, it should be Paul Starr’s Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform, which is due out from Yale University Press on October 25th.

You may know Starr, Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, from his Pulitzer-Prize-Winning book on the history of the American health care system, The Social Transformation of American Medicine. In Remedy and Reaction, Starr is at it again, first chronicaling the history of health reform in America, then providing a behind-the-scenes look from his time in the Clinton White House working on what was ultimately a failed attempt at reform, and concluding with the politics and policy of the Affordable Care Act. For anyone who wants to engage in informed debate about health reform, Remedy and Reaction should be considered required reading.

Starr acknowledges at the outset that he is biased in favor of the ACA–and a progressive approach to reform more generally–but that doesn’t detract from what is, in my opinion, a balanced discussion of the issues at stake, and the evidence in support of various approaches to reform. His central premise is that the U.S. health care system is trapped–growing “increasingly costly and complicated” but having “satisfied enough of the public” and having “so enriched the health-care industry as to make change extraordinarily difficult.” As political moderates disappear from existence, the path to reform, Starr argues, has grown even more challenging.

More Read

Triple Aim and Telehealth
How Telehealth Will Support the Triple Aim
Will Obama Follow UK Meeting with Adequate Money for Vaccines?
Medical Regulations Run Amok!
How Far Will Obama Administration Bend for Medicaid Expansion in Republican States?
How to Be Named the Costliest Hospital in the Nation

The history is all here, from discussions of reform (and the lack thereof) by Presidents dating back to Teddy Roosevelt to the implementation of the ACA. It is striking to fully understand how our nation has been grappling with the same philosophical questions for a century without reaching any real consensus, while at the same time watching our problems mount as a result of our disagreement and inaction. It is eye-opening to watch as Republican ideas, espoused by Democrats in a spirit of cooperation, became antithetical to Republican ideals. When you finish Remedy and Reaction, you will know the truth about “death panels” and the tax breaks we give to those with the best insurance coverage. You will understand how an individual mandate can at once be viewed as the pinnacle of individual responsibility and the destruction of individual liberty. You will know where we came from and how we got here. And you will be both more enlightened and more cynical.

Visit B.Wright Consulting


TAGGED:book reviewhealth reformPaul StarrRemedy and Reaction
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

Image
Medical EducationSocial Media

Cleveland Clinic and Doximity Make Earning CME Credits More Social

May 26, 2013

NanoViricides Reports Positive Anti-viral Effect of HIV Drug

August 16, 2011
FitnessHealth care

Treatments for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

October 23, 2020

Telemonitoring at Work in the Netherlands

November 25, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?