ABSTRACT
Examination of the difficult issues posed by the three problems — access, cost, and quality — points to a deeper layer of complexity: the boundaries of our healthcare system are not clear. This chapter tends to view the healthcare system as the set of services that are typically provided by licensed medical professionals, and covered by standard health insurance policies. It explores the access, cost, and quality issues, however, and shows that healthcare is simply a tool for producing health. It is difficult to measure the performance of the healthcare system, because healthcare outcomes are frequently impacted by factors outside the provider's control. Data from the Social Security Administration demonstrates increasing health inequality, based on remaining life expectancy for individuals who reach age 65.
