John E. McDonough - Böcker

John E. McDonough affords a rare glimpse into the practice of state politics in this insider's account of the fascinating interface between political science and real-life politics. A member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for thirteen years and a skilled storyteller, McDonough eloquently weaves together stories of politics and policy with engaging theoretical models in a way that illuminates both the theory and the practice. By providing a link between scholarship and the world of experience, he communicates much about the essence of representative democracy. In the process, he demonstrates how politics extend beyond the public sphere into many aspects of life involving diverse values and interests. McDonough describes the nature of conflict, the role of interests, agenda setting, the nature and pace of change, the use of language, and more. Accessible, insightful, and original, his stories touch on a broad range of issues - including health care politics, campaigns, and elections; a street gang called the X-men; the death penalty; and, campaign finance reform, and tenants versus landlords. To the author, politics is everywhere and political dynamics are universal.While the setting for this book is one legislature, the lessons and insights are intended for everyone.

This indispensable guide to the Affordable Care Act, our new national health care law, lends an insider's deep understanding of policy to a lively and absorbing account of the extraordinary--and extraordinarily ambitious--legislative effort to reform the nation's health care system. Dr. John E. McDonough, DPH, a health policy expert who served as an advisor to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, provides a vivid picture of the intense effort required to bring this legislation into law. McDonough clearly explains the ACA's inner workings, revealing the rich landscape of the issues, policies, and controversies embedded in the law yet unknown to most Americans. In his account of these historic events, McDonough takes us through the process from the 2008 presidential campaign to the moment in 2010 when President Obama signed the bill into law. At a time when the nation is taking a second look at the ACA, Inside National Health Reform provides the essential information for Americans to make informed judgments about this landmark law.

How forty years of neoliberal policy choices created an American health care system that prioritizes profit over people.How can a nation with unmatched wealth and medical innovation also have the highest health care costs and the poorest health outcomes among its peers? In America's Wrong Turn, John E. McDonough offers a compelling explanation for this troubling puzzle of contemporary US life and shows that this reality did not arise by accident.Beginning in the later twentieth century, a powerful political and economic philosophy began to reshape the United States and continues to mold the institutions that govern health care, insurance coverage, and population health. Across four decades, the rise of neoliberal thinking elevated privatization, deregulation, and profit maximization as guiding principles for public policy. McDonough illustrates how these ideas influenced medical care at every level, altering government roles, accelerating consolidation, encouraging the financialization of once-mission-driven sectors, and shifting the US health system's priorities away from patients and communities. The consequences of these changes include deepening inequality, eroded public health capacity, and a growing burden of medical debt.Synthesizing history, policy analysis, and the lived realities of the American health system, McDonough reveals how a national commitment to economic freedom above all else set the stage for today's dysfunctional health care system. Despite today's crises, he also highlights emerging efforts that signal the possibility of a new direction, one based on fairness, accountability, and the restoration of health as a public value. America's Wrong Turn offers a framework for understanding how the United States arrived at this moment and what it will take to create a system worthy of the people it serves.