An Handy Guide to a Very Messy Health System

The U.S. health system’s complexity is staggering. Those of us who earn a living studying it are forced to hyper-specialize to have any hope of mastering our subject. Still, it’s important to have some understanding of how the different pieces of the health system fit together (or, to refine the metaphor, have to be shoved together with a loud grating sound).

But short of cracking open an undergraduate textbook, it can be challenging to get a basic, comprehensive grasp of the many programs, institutions, and laws that define our health system. Most of us pick up bits and pieces of information over time, with no systematic way to avoid large gaps of knowledge.

Happily, filling those gaps just got a little easier.

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recently put out a concise overview of the U.S. health system, broken up into about a dozen chapters. KFF is not sure what to call it — they variously refer to it as “Health Policy 101,” a “primer,” and a “mini ‘textbook’.” You get the idea.

There are separate chapters for Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, how private health insurance is regulated, the federal health policy process, etc. Each chapter is compiled by KFF scholars specializing in that area. Much of the content isn’t new — they’ve just pulled together work previously published in KFF reports, policy briefs, and testimony into a cohesive whole. The text is peppered with helpful graphs and tables, and hyperlinks help the curious reader access more in-depth information.

The entire document is short enough to skim in an afternoon, and is well worth the time.

Although its progressive slant will not come as a shock to anyone familiar with KFF’s other work, the material emphasizes basic explanations over ideological tirades. Most controversial issues are presented in a reasonably balanced way. In fact, you won’t find policy recommendations, or even much discussion of health policy controversies. Nor will you find much in the way of historical context through which to understand and interpret contemporary issues. Hopefully KFF will consider including both in any future revisions.

Check it out!