Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is an extremely well-written and well organized book, with a well chosen period in the history of American healthcare,1925-1950. I find nothing particularly liberal or socialist about it; surely, I must have read a different book than the previous reviewer. Engel's policy focus is below the level of the great leaders of the time such as Roosevelt, but above that of the man on the street. At this level, we get a little of the personal and professional struggles of people who actually created and opposed health care reform proposals such as the AMA's Morris Fishbein and Isadore Falk. We can also gain some understanding of the links between the reformers and the philathopic funds and government agencies that supported them. One interesting story is that of John Kingsbury, the Director of the reform-minded Milbank fund during this period, who was fired by the fund after the AMA threatened to boycott Borden milk, the family business financing the fund. The heterogenous attitudes toward reform that characterized the physician community stemming from the variety of circumstances in which they practiced medicine provides a more nuanced understanding of the AMA membership. Engel paints a picture of the differences in perspective of rich urban specialists versus poor rural generalists, for example. Engel is particularly adept at providing the broader context in which these struggles played out, and describing the varied reactions of reformers to their agonies of defeat. I have to mention that I was very surprised to learn that Harvey Cushing, the famous neurosurgeon, was a member of the Commmittee on Economic Security, and that he had a personal relationship with FDR through his daughter who was married to one of FDR's sons. If you are interested in the history of American health care policy during this period, then you must read this book.
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