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This revised ninth edition of the best-selling introductory text to the U.S. health care system is fully updated to reflect changes to health care services, delivery, and financing resulting from new policies affecting the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Valued for its concise and balanced survey of the U.S. health care system, this book describes how the American health care system currently functions, the major factors that led to its present day structure, and a forecasting of how the industry is likely to change over the course of the next few years. This practical text highlights an array of influences shaping the future of health care, such as the use of big data and analytics, new policies and trends tied to pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and innovations to mental health and substance abuse. With an emphasis on policy development, the authors underscore the fluidity of the system and examine the debates and conflicts that have shaped health care changes and influenced American values and belief systems.

This accessible text defines the most essential elements of the health care system, including its components, organization, services, and financing. An ideal text for undergraduate courses, graduate survey courses, and courses introducing the subject to medical students, it describes the ongoing evolution of the system, taking into consideration future directions given proposed changes to the ACA and other health laws by Congress, the Trump administration, and the political landscape in general. Organized to facilitate an understanding of concepts at work, Jonas’ Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System equips public health and health administration students as well as medical, nursing, and allied health professionals with a deeper understanding of the field in which they will practice, so they can position themselves to navigate upcoming changes that affect health care quality, value, and access.

New to the Ninth Edition:

• Updated to address changes to health care services, delivery, and financing in the United States
• An expanded section on future trends in health care
• A full description of the health care reform politics under the Obama and Trump administrations and those being promoted in political campaigns
• New chapter on medicines, devices, and health care technology
• Increased coverage of mental health and substance abuse, long-term care, and other institutionalized populations
• Digital ancillaries include access to the eBook, an annual update on U.S. health policy, and new student exercises utilizing publicly available data

Key Features:

• The most concise and balanced introduction to the U.S. health care system
• Provides a framework for examining how each structure and stakeholder within the health system interacts and how changes to policy would affect them
• Numerous cartoons, graphs, and tables break up the text and serve as meaningful context with pertinent data
• Each chapter utilizes learning objectives and discussion questions to guide student reading
• Includes a full suite of Instructor ancillaries including an Instructor’s Manual, PowerPoints, Test Bank, and other exercises