State Intervention in Medical Care: Consequences for Britain, France, Sweden, and the United States, 1890-1970

State Intervention in Medical Care is a substantial and unique contribution to the ongoing debate about government participation in the delivery of medical care. It offers historical, cross-national comparisons of the performance of medical systems in Britain, France, Sweden, and the United States over most of the last century. J. Rogers Hollingsworth, Jerald Hage, and Robert A. Hanneman examine the impact of state intervention on a number of characteristics: mortality rates, the per capita cost of medical care, the social efficiency of the delivery of services, the introduction and diffusion of innovations, and the equality of the system—including not only regional or spatial equality but also equality in access to medical resources and equality in levels of health across social classes and income groups.