"If you want to know why we're so lousy at avoiding wasteful, expensive care in the United States, read Unhealthy Politics . It's an invaluable resource for understanding why commonsense solutions get mired in political controversy--and how we might get out of the partisan rut we're in." --Nicholas Bagley, University of Michigan Law School "Why is American health care so wasteful? In a masterstroke of political economy, Patashnik, Gerber, and Dowling show that it is not just that every treatment has its own constituency, but also that the political coalition for evidence-based treatment is weak, publicly doubted, corroded by partisanship, and includes few doctors. Following their advice might save us hundreds of billions." --Daniel Carpenter, Harvard University, author of Reputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA "A searing indictment of American medicine and health-care policy. Unhealthy Politics is a provocative, compelling exploration of the dismal state of evidence-based medicine in the United States. Original, persuasive, and essential reading." --Jonathan Oberlander, author of The Political Life of Medicare "Much of the $3 trillion America spends on health care is expended on care of little demonstrated value.

At the same time, much care proven to genuinely work is not reliably delivered to the patients who need it most. In principle, comparative effectiveness research (CER) provides tools to do better. Yet in matters large and small, physicians, politicians, and the American public itself combine to oppose the use of rigorous clinical evidence to guide medical care. Eric Patashnik, Alan Gerber, and Conor Dowling straddle the boundaries of political science and policy analysis to explore why this is so. This is a magnificent book. It will be read for years to come." --Harold Pollack, University of Chicago "With U.S.

health care in critical condition, we as Americans must ask: How did we get here? In Unhealthy Politics , Patashnik, Gerber, and Dowling provide a convincing explanation as they illuminate and guide the reader through the labyrinth of current health policy." --Jonathan S. Skinner, Dartmouth College "If you want to know why we're so lousy at avoiding wasteful, expensive care in the United States, read Unhealthy Politics . It's an invaluable resource for understanding why commonsense solutions get mired in political controversy--and how we might get out of the partisan rut we're in." --Nicholas Bagley, University of Michigan Law School " Unhealthy Politics sheds light on the political forces that have limited the development of a better evidence base for health care in the United States. The book is beautifully written, succinct, and addresses an important topic. It will be widely read." --Michael K.

Gusmano, coauthor of Health Care in World Cities " Unhealthy Politics brings together numerous insights from political science along with new empirical evidence to shed light on one of the most important debates in health-care policy in the United States--the issue of how to produce better evidence to guide decisions about medical care. The book is timely, given rising health-care costs and increasing polarization about the role the state might play in addressing them. An informative and stimulating read." --Ann Campbell Keller, author of Science in Environmental Policy.