Health Care USA, Ninth Edition offers students of health administration, public health, medicine, and related fields a wide-ranging overview of America's health care system. Combining historical perspective with analysis of current trends, including the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), this thoroughly updated edition charts the evolution of modern American health care, providing a complete examination of its organization and delivery while offering critical insight into the issues that the U.S. health system faces today. Balanced in perspective and comprehensive in its coverage, Health Care USA, Ninth Edition, provides students with a clearly organized, straightforward illustration of the complex structures, relationships and processes of this rapidly growing industry. Now with a new, highly experienced co-author Philip J. Kroth, the Ninth Edition explores new and evolving trends in the health care delivery marketplace and workforce including the forthcoming physician shortage, the status of the nursing profession, hospitalists, and the move of many physicians from small group practices to hospitals. New to the Ninth Edition: * Up-to-date information on the implementation of the ACA woven throughout the chapters * New, comprehensive coverage of MACRA and its impact on all parts of the health care delivery system woven throughout the chapters * Coverage of new trends including mergers, acquisitions, and the vertical integration of health systems * New coverage in the Health Information Technology chapter on the challenges of achieving interoperability * Current information on workforce issues such as the coming physician shortage; the role, certification, and training of physician assistants; trends in pharmacy and dentistry; nurse practitioners; hospitalists; and a new section on the increasingly important role of medical assistants * Completely overhauled chapter on Public Health including new international comparisons, and data on U.S. spending on prevention efforts with examples from the Flint, Michigan water crisis, Gun violence, as well as SARS and Zika