When this book was first published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 1994, the US health care system was in crisis. In the decade or so since the situation has become worse. Weissman (medicine and health care policy, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School) and Epstein (health policy and management, Harvard U. School of Public Health) work from their 1992 report to the US Office of Technology Assessment and a series of their lectures to provide a basic reference for those who seek to provide care for the uninsured and the underinsured. The authors provide a framework for understanding the essential issues, such as why the uninsured are more likely to need care, and offer a series of unexpected questions researchers and policy-makers should ask when addressing the issues of lack of coverage, and thereby, lack of care. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
