Health Care as a Social Good

Religious Values and American Democracy

By: David M. Craig

Narrated by: Josh Andersen

David M. Craig traveled across the United States to assess health care access, delivery, and finance in this country. He interviewed religious hospital administrators and interfaith activists, learning how they balance the values of economic efficiency and community accountability. He discovered that health care in the US is not a private good or a public good. Decades of public policy and philanthropic service have made health care a shared social good.

Health Care as a Social Good: Religious Values and American Democracy argues that as escalating health costs absorb more and more of family income and government budgets, we need to take stock of the full range of health care values to create a different and more affordable community-based health care system. Transformation of that system is a national priority but Americans have failed to find a way to work together that bypasses our differences. Craig insists that community engagement around the common religious conviction that healing is a shared responsibility can help us achieve this transformation - one that will not only help us realize a new and better system, but one that reflects the ideals of American democracy and the common good.

The book is published by Georgetown University Press.

©2014 Georgetown University Press (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Taking a novel and helpful approach to health care policy debates...this tour of our current health care system offers readers an unusual opportunity to rethink how and why we organize health care delivery as we do." (Political Science Quarterly)

"A rare, and needed, perspective." (Religious Studies Review)

Great read on health care reform

Author does a great job of informing on the logic and shortfalls of the different sides of healthcare reform debates - and great insights on how we might all get on the same side against this issue that is not going away on its own.

Enjoyed the Read

I enjoyed this book immensely my only qualms about the information presented is that it ought to be made more manageable through its vocabulary to navigate. For those that don't have a clear understanding of the political and healthcare landscape it may be frustrating to align and piece together ideas through unnecessary jargon. If you want a book such as this to have a greater impact on its readers it should be presented in a manner that easy to swallow. Overall, Great read I would recommend this to anyone interested in the healthcare debate.