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John C. Campbell
University of Minnesota Press

American Policy Toward Communist Eastern Europe was first published in 1965. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.

Perhaps no aspect of American foreign relations has been in greater need of clarification and understanding than our policy toward the Communist nations of Eastern Europe, both as to what has happened in the past and what is possible for the future. In this book a former State Department Official, now on the staff of the Council on Foreign Relations, provides objective information which will help students, professors, members of adult study groups, and others concerned with American foreign policy to understand and discuss this important subject.

Mr. Campbell reminds us that the cold war began in Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the second World War. Since that time, the question of what to do about Eastern Europe has been in the forefront of American foreign policy. For some years, he contends, we have been uncertain of our objectives and ambivalent in our policies. Meanwhile, changes since the death of Stalin have created new situations both for the Soviet Union and for the West.In analyzing what has happened, the author emphasizes the forces which have shaken the unity of the Soviet bloc to create new perspectives and possibilities. He discusses the effects of the Soviet- Chinese split, the relationship of the German question to that of Eastern Europe, and the phenomenon of national Communism as it has appeared in different forms in Yugoslavia, Poland, Rumania, and elsewhere.

After presenting the historical background, the author discusses American aims and current policies and outlines the choices he sees ahead. He does not plead for any one of the alternative lines of action, presenting them, rather, as a basis for reasoned consideration and debate.

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front cover of Containing Health Care Costs in Japan
Containing Health Care Costs in Japan
Naoki Ikegami and John Creighton Campbell, Editors
University of Michigan Press, 1996

The Japanese health care system provides universal coverage to a healthy but aging population. Its costs are among the lowest in the world and have remained nearly constant as a share of the economy for more than a decade. Americans concerned about runaway medical spending need to know about the successes that Japan has experienced and the problems the country has encountered in its effort to control costs while maintaining quality of care.

Offered here is an analysis of the key issues of cost-containment by specialists followed by reactions from some of America's best-known experts on health care delivery and finance. Topics include the macro-and microeconomics of health care, technology and costs, institutions and costs, attitudinal and behavioral aspects, and the politics of health care.

This collection provides an authoritative study of successful cost-containment in the Japanese health care system---a chronicle of success that is neither a statistical illusion nor a result of sociocultural factors. Detailed here is information on the key mechanism of cost constraint: a fee schedule that covers virtually all medical services and rewards inexpensive services while making expensive services unprofitable. This system has resulted in the provision of quality health care to the entire population at roughly half the cost of American health care. Is it a single-payer system? Would the United States have to introduce a dramatically altered health care structure to benefit from the Japanese experience? No. Japan relies mainly on fee-for-service medicine financed by multiple insurers---a system familiar to Americans and one from which many lessons may be learned.

Based on conferences held in Washington, D.C., and Izu, Japan, this volume collects original chapters on the overall cost structure, how the negotiated mandatory fee schedule works, specific mechanisms for cost control, the politics of health care financing, and the impact of cost cutting on quality, among other topics. These pathbreaking studies will be a significant resource for policymakers and scholars interested in comparative health care systems as well as those interested in health care reform in the United States.

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