NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute acts under both the Academy's 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an advisor to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education.
This project was supported by the Kellogg Endowment Fund, the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, the Baxter Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant #18455), the Health Care Services Administration (Contract #75-05-0080), Department of Health and Human Services, and Institute of Medicine internal funds.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on Monitoring Access to Personal Health Care Services.
Access to health care in America / Committee on Monitoring Access to Personal Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine ; Michael Millman, editor.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-04742-0
1. Health services accessibility—United States—Evaluation. I. Millman, Michael L. II. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Health Services Accessibility—United States. W 76 1592a]
RA407.3.I58 1993
362.1'0973—dc20
DNLM/DLC 92-48299
for Library of Congress CIP
Copyright 1993 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The image adopted as a logo-type by the Institute of Medicine is based on a relief carving from ancient Greece, now held by the Staatlichemuseen in Berlin.
First Printing, March 1993
Second Printing, February 1994
COMMITTEE ON MONITORING ACCESS TO PERSONAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES
JACK HADLEY (Chair), Co-Director,
Georgetown University Center for Health Policy Studies, Washington, D.C.
LU ANN ADAY, Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences,
University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston
JOHN BILLINGS, Health Policy Consultant,
New York, New York
CHARLES BRECHER, Professor,
New York University, and member, Citizens Budget Commission, Scarsdale, New York
TIMOTHY S. CAREY, Assistant Professor of Medicine,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
ALAN B. COHEN, Vice President,
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
EZRA C. DAVIDSON, Jr.,* Professor and Chairman,
King/Drew Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
CHESTER W. DOUGLASS, Professor and Chairman,
Department of Dental Care Administration, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
ARNOLD M. EPSTEIN, Associate Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy,
Harvard University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
JOHN G. LOEB, Deputy Executive Director,
Health Management Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
JOANNE E. LUKOMNIK, Special Assistant to the Dean,
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York
JANET B. MITCHELL, President,
Center for Health Economics, Waltham, Massachusetts
IRA MOSCOVICE, Professor and Associate Director,
Division of Health Services Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
DONALD L. PATRICK, Professor,
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle
FERNANDO M. TREVINO, Dean and Professor,
School of Health Professions, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos
GEORGE VAN AMBURG, State Registrar and Chief,
Center for Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan
JOSEPH WESTERMEYER, Professor and Head,
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City
Study Staff
MICHAEL L. MILLMAN, Study Director
DEE SUTTON, Study Secretary
KARL D. YORDY, Director,
Division of Health Care Services
DON TILLER, Administrative Assistant,
Division of Health Care Services
HOLLY DAWKINS, Research Assistant,
Division of Health Care Services
SUSANAH GINSBERG, Consultant
GREG W. PEARSON, Consultant
ROBERT A. WALKINGTON, Consultant