This chapter describes the arc of health reform in the U.S. over the Twentieth Century and explores how the most-recent major reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, offers a window into the idiosyncrasies of U.S. health care law and the values that have shaped this field. This...

The idea of a public health insurance option is at least a half century old, but has not yet had its day in the limelight. This chapter explains why if that moment ever comes, health care’s public option will fall short of expectations that it will provide a differentiated, meaningful...