Praeger The Dysfunctional Politics of the Affordable Care Act

While analyzing the contentious debate over health care reform, this much-needed study also challenges the argument that treating medical patients like shoppers can significantly reduce health expenditures. • Explains why the two political parties have staked out such different positions on health care reform • Documents what the public knows about the Affordable Care Act and how individuals' party identification significantly affects their knowledge • Challenges the arguments for consumer-driven health care plans by gathering evidence from numerous studies of consumer behavior under various kinds of insurance plans • Offers a well-informed critique of the political arguments surrounding the expansion of Medicaid, showing how this policy diffusion leverages the weak arguments and evidence for consumer-driven health care plans Review "A comprehensive and convincing review of the politics of Obamacare. . . . This is an excellent book and well worth the read for those interested in health care or polarization more broadly. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty." - Choice Review "Concise and well written, The Dysfunctional Politics of the Affordable Care Act provides an up-to-date overview of the politics surrounding the largest and most controversial U.S. health care legislation in decades. This book is a must-read for those interested in the recent evolution of, and the ongoing debate over, U.S. health care reform." (Daniel Béland, Canada Research Chair in Public Policy and Professor at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan; Coauthor of Obamacare Wars: Federalism, State Politics, and the Affordable Care Act) "This is a compelling book that shows persuasively how bitter partisan conflict and polarization have prevented both political leaders and the American public from thinking and acting in level-headed ways to complete the current major effort at health care reform. It is a story involving political manipulation, partisan bias, and emotion, in which the nation's leaders have missed an opportunity to engage and educate the American public on the knottiest and most important issue affecting its well-being. Shaw describes how the public, sadly, has not been able to sort this out on its own. Leadership matters." (Robert Y. Shapiro, Wallace Sayre Professor of Government at Columbia University and coauthor of The Rational Public: Fifty Years of Trends in Americans' Policy Preferences and Politicians Don't Pander: Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness) About the Author Greg M. Shaw, PhD, is professor and chair of the Political Science Department at Illinois Wesleyan University.