Disentitlement? The Threats Facing Our Public Health-Care Programs and a Rights-Based Response.

• Position: Brief Article - Book Review

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003; 800-451-7556; www.oup.com.

No developed nation relies on the private sector to finance health care for its citizens. This book begins by exploring the deficiencies in private health insurance that account for this. It then recounts the history and examines the legal character of America's public health-care entitlements--Medicare, Medicaid, and tax subsidies for employment-related health benefits. These programs are increasingly embattled, attacked by those advocating privatization; individualization; and devolution of authority to state governments and private entities. Jost critically analyzes this movement toward disentitlements. He also examines the...