American Medicare &Medicaid Research

Guided by Marxist historical materialism, this dissertation inquires into the evolution, background, basic contents, structural characteristics, and trends of American health care system by using theories and methods of multi-disciplines and recent foreign materials and research results. Based on the inquiry, the paper brings to light the fundamental laws and inherent logic governing rite formation and development of American health care system. It also analyses the nature of and the problems and challenges faced by American health care system.The dissertation is divided into four parts, and consisting of six chapters:Part one (including Chapter two): taking 1965 as demarcation line, explores the history background of American health care system; and analyses its status quo from the scale and model of care in America. By studying the history and status quo of American health care system, we find that it is a mixed, stratified, commercialized system with incrementalism and limited governmental intervention.Part two(including Chapter three& Chapter four):mainly introduces the basic content of American health care system, it includes the beginning,structure,contents,purposes and effects of American two public health plans. This part also compares Medicare and Medicaid's natures, features, and trends.Part there (including Chapter five): aiming at American private insurance's characteristics, this part analyses the main private insurance plans, and compares the advantages and disadvantages of them.Part four (including Chapter six): begins with analyzing problems in American health care system, it briefly introduces and evaluates several typical reform proposals to deal with these problems. And it emphatically probes into the problems and challenges Medicare is confronted with and the debate on its reform. On this basis, this part analyses its reform and forecasts the trend of the development of American health care system in the future.