It is well documented that health services in the United States, representing 17.9% of GDP, are the costliest in the world. Medicare alone accounted for $672 billion (20% of national health expenditures) in 2016, of which a significant percentage financed the treatment of frail older people near the end of life. It is equally acknowledged that we do not receive optimum care for our money. There are scores of powerful vested economic interests with their hands in the government till, each attempting to maximize their health care dollars from the system.
Old and Sick in America: The Journey through the Health Care System analyzes how institutional structures and practices affect the elderly patients' functioning and recovery from acute illness. The author, Dr. Muriel R. Gillick, has been a practicing physician for 30 years. She deftly takes us on a tour of the health care system through an investigation of outpatient...
