Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 272
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-5381-3118-3 • Hardback • October 2019 • $36.00 • (£28.00)
978-1-5381-3119-0 • eBook • October 2019 • $34.00 • (£26.00)
Arthur “Tim” Garson is Director of the Health Policy Institute at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, which is the largest medical center in the world. He has been Dean of Medicine and Provost of the University of Virginia, President of the American College of Cardiology, Chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and is an elected member of the National Academy of Science’s National Academy of Medicine. He is the author of Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality (R&L, 2007). Ryan Holeywell is Director of Communications at the Texas Medical Center and a former journalist for publications including the Houston Chronicle and Governing magazine. He has appeared on CNN, NPR and CNBC to discuss his work.
Highly Recommended: . . . a concise, up-to-date, rigorously referenced analysis of 20 of the most troublesome "myths" that continue to misguide the American public’s views about health care. . . this text can be helpful to undergraduate and graduate students, health care policy scholars, and anyone who still believes that health care in the US is the best in the world.
— Choice Reviews
Exposing The Twenty Medical Myths is the most important book on American healthcare yet. It is focused, clear, organized, cogent, helpful and fair to all. It is carefully written at a lowest common denominator level, with no five dollar words, no hyphenated Latin and no attempt to hide the diagnosis from the patient. . . . Exposing The Twenty Medical Myths is a remarkable achievement. In just 210 pages, it captures the essence of the situation and explains it rationally and fairly, backed by facts, figures and direct experience managing the system. It is a sane analysis of an insane nonsystem where the quality of patients’ healthcare varies directly with the quality of their jobs. This is unique in the world and in no way desirable, fair or workable, but the edifice is so huge and convoluted, it pretty much has to continue. Insurers want to profit, government wants out, and patients are caught in the middle, paying more than 30% of their income for coverage at average figures. It’s all just wrong, and the stats show it definitely isn’t working. But now you will at least know why.
— San Francisco Review of Books
Exposing the Twenty Medical Myths is an exceptionally informative account of the hugely complex and expensive American health care system. Tim Garson, MD, a national physician leader with vast expertise on health policy and a passionate commitment to making health care better for Americans, and Ryan Holeywell have written a fact-filled and thought-provoking book with important insights into American health care and various policy prescriptions for reform. Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt, a listened-to voice on health policy in America and a long-time friend of Dr. Garson, would have applauded both their honorable intent for writing the book and the book itself.
— May Tsung-Mei Cheng, Research Health Policy Analyst at Princeton University
It is time for all Americans to help fix our health care and this book is a perfect place to start. It is written for the general public, but it contains plenty of new information and fresh ideas for those of us who have spent our working lives in the health care world. And it succeeds in being non-partisan, a real feat in today’s polarized world. Garson’s easy style makes even the deepest concepts readily accessible. Understanding these “myths” is well worth your time and attention.
— Donald M. Berwick, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The best new book that Illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of the entire health care system is Exposing the 20 Medical Myths. It is clearly written FOR the public so the reader can not only understand the current system but it provides a unique lens to view the huge challenges just over the horizon.
— Raymond C. Scheppach, Former Executive Director National Governors Association, Project Director for the State Health Care Cost Containment Commission, Professor of Public Policy, University of Virginia
I initiated a program at the Texas Department of Insurance to use plain language so that insurance would be easier to understand. Dr. Garson writes with the same goal in mind for healthcare. He’s a healthcare thought-leader who breaks down complex issues in a way that’s understandable and thought-provoking.
— Kent C. Sullivan, Commissioner, Texas Department of Insurance, former justice on the Texas Court of Appeals
This book will get you a long way to understanding health care in a short amount of time. Dr. Garson uses his years of professional insight to explain why healthcare costs are so high, why we often can’t the care we want or need, and the role that public policy can play in fixing the situation. I highly recommend this book for the public as well as both teachers and students studying health economics or health policy.
— Vivian Ho Ph.D, Director of the Center for Health and Biosciences at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
Dr. Garson has had extremely successful careers as a practicing physician, medical school Dean and University Provost, a national physician group leader and chair of the US Advisory Council on healthcare quality, a health policy institute director and a small business innovator. Each career has contributed to his knowledge base and thoughtfulness in creating this highly successful book. Exposing Medical Myths is a combination of being extremely thought provoking as well as filled with realism. Having the opportunity to interact with multiple medical regulatory authorities and health ministries around the world, I recognize that while this book is clearly directed to the ongoing US conversation about our healthcare system, it definitely can be used globally. I highly recommend this book for anyone involved in planning, teaching or or learning about healthcare delivery.
This will serve a a great source not only in the US but also for those from overseas who want to understand US health care.
— William W. Pinsky M.D., President and CEO of Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)