A Selective Guide to Sources for Political Science 436/536
Health Care Policy
Compiled by Deborah Hollens
Government Information Resources Coordinator
[Journal articles/databases] [Government Publications] [Internet]
Finding Books
Books on health care policy can be found under a variety of subject headings. Some important examples:
Health care rationing
Health care reform
Health planning
Health Services Administration
Medical care
Medical care, Cost of
Medical care--United States--Quality control
Medical ethics
Patient advocacy
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceutical policy--United States
Right to health careAnother important way to search is with "keywords," which will locate words in titles, subjects, and contents notes. If you have patience, searching with keywords will find much hidden material. You can make up your own keywords and often find them in the titles of essays, or the books themselves.
Summit: Orbis Cascade Alliance Catalog
Search Summit for books available from the ORBIS consortium. Summit is a library catalog that combines information from 33 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington into a single unified database. Well over 25 million books, sound recordings, films, videos, and more have come to Summit from the local catalogs. You can search Summit in the same way, with subject headings or with your own keywords.
Worldcat is a database that contains over 62 million records for materials cataloged in thousands of libraries all over the world. It is the database to use to find all books on a subject. A new record is added to Worldcat every 15 seconds.
Finding Journal Articles
Hannon Library Databases
Useful for Health Policy
Academic Search Complete
Retrieves citations, most with abstracts and many with full text. Indicates
SOU library holdings data for articles and reviews in selected popular magazines
and scholarly journals. You will find much information indexed here on health
care reform.
Academic
Universe LexisNexis
Retrieves full-text articles and documents from: news, business, legal research,
and medicine. Absolutely the best place to find full-text newspaper articles!
Legal files include the full range of state and federal laws and court cases.
This database will be invaluable for you because of its full-text
access to medical journals.
Business
Source Premier
Retrieves citations, most with abstracts and many with full text, and indicates
SOU library holdings data for articles in selected business, management,
economics, banking, finance, and accounting magazines and scholarly journals.
Also retrieves citations for the Wall Street Journal.
Congressional
Universe LexisNexis
Retrieves citations, summaries, and full-text of United States congressional
bills, hearing testimony, and reports. Full-text documents have links to
related bills, testimony, and other materials. Also retrieves legislative
histories, the full text of the Code of Federal Regulations and Federal
Register, House and Senate committee membership, voting records of members
of the House and Senate, and selected news coverage of Federal legislative
news. The Hot Topics file is useful for perspectives on possible research
paper topics. Results may be printed, downloaded to disc, or e-mailed. In
English. Uses the Lexis-Nexis interface
CQ Researcher. 4 times per month. Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Online.
Great source for background information on current topics. Each report details history, current situation, and possible future of a topic, plus a good bibliography of additional sources.
PAIS
International
PAIS International contains references to more than 553,300 journal
articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, gray literature,
research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies,
microfiche, Internet material, and more. Newspapers and newsletters are
not indexed. It includes publications from over 120 countries throughout
the world.
Finding Government Publications
U.S. Congress
Senate and House Hearings
Hearings are held by Congressional committees on specific legislation, proposed or existing, or they can be an overview of a subject or topical area. They contain testimony from expert witnesses, recent statistics, photos, letters, and sometimes even magazine or journal articles on the topic under discussion. Hearings are classed Y 4. and are shelved in the documents stacks (behind reference---back of Hannon Library). You will find most of the important ones cataloged in Hannon Library's online catalog. The various committees and their SUDOCS numbers are listed on the ends of the Y 4 stacks.
Examples of current hearings on health policy and issues:
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Reform. Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization. You Can't Always Get What You Want: What If the Federal Government Could Drive Improvements in Healthcare? Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2005. (Y 4.G 74/7:G74/28) http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS61803
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and the Workforce. Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations. Challenges to Employer Efforts to Preserve Retiree Health Care Benefits. Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2005. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS63040 (Y 4.ED 8/1:109-12)
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Small businesses and health insurance : easing costs and expanding access. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2005. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS63040 (Y 4.L 11/4:S.HRG.109-120)
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Small Business. Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment, and Government Programs. The Benefits of Health Savings Accounts. Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2004. (internet only)
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Small Business. Prescriptions
for Health Care: Solutions to the Problem. Washington: U.S.
G.P.O., 2005. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS65588
(Y 4.SM 1:109-3)
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce. A Review of the Administration's FY2005 Health Care Priorities. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2004. (Y 4.C 73/8:108-100) http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS55407
Background material produced for Congress
Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office Reports
(formerly General Accounting Office Reports) ONLINE.
GAO is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. It operates independently as a source of audits and investigations of government departments, agencies, programs, and operations. It makes recommendations for more effective programs and frequently uncovers incompetence and fraud in government entities. GAO reports are done at the request of Congressional Committees and are recognized as one of the most truthful and reliable sources in government. When the GAO speaks...everyone listens!
Many GAO reports are cataloged in the Hannon Library online catalog and all are available at their website.
Recent examples:
Health care : unsustainable trends necessitate comprehensive and fundamental reforms to control spending and improve value. 2004 ONLINE (GA 1.2:GAO-04-793 SP)
Medical malpractice : implications of rising premiums on access to health care : report to congressional requesters. 2003 ONLINE (GA 1.13:GAO-03-836)
Private health insurance
:federal and state requirements affecting coverage offered by small businesses.
2003 ONLINE (GA 1.13:GAO-03-1133)
Congressional Research Service
CRS provides confidential research and non partisan analysis to Congress on all public policy issues of interest. CRS staff are experts in many disciplines and work to explain policy problems and options.
Congressional Research Reports (Many ONLINE at Open CRS)
Congressional
Research Reports (from the University of North Texas) Search about
8,000 different reports by keyword, title, author, subject, and report number,
and browse by subject.
CRS is a "think tank," working out of the Library of Congress, that provides reports to members of Congress on a variety of topics relevant to current legislation.
Congressional Budget Office
CBO provides Congress with biannual forecasts of the economy and analyses of economic trends and alternative fiscal policies.
Congressional Budget Office Reports online at their website
Some recent examples:
The Uninsured and Rising Health Insurance Premiums. 2004
The Price Sensitivity of Demand for Non-Group Health Insurance. 2005
Health Care Spending and the Uninsured . 2004
Office of Technology Assessment
(These 2 are old, but might be useful)
Health Care Technology and Its Assessment in Eight Countries. 1995
Hospital Financing in Seven Countries. 1995
Useful Reference Volume
Published for Congressional Commitees
U.S. House. Committee on Ways and Means. 2004 Green Book: Background Material and Data on Major Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 2004 (Y 4.W 36:10-4/2004)
Some Statistical Publications
Statistical
Abstract of the United States: National Data Book and Guide to Sources.
A one volume basic reference guide to demographic, social, political and
economic statistics for the U.S. It contains annual tables of statistics
from both public and private sources, e.g., populations, income, vital statistics,
health expenditures, education, etc. Origin of data is almost always cited
at the end of each statistical table, making it an excellent reference to
other statistical sources.
Health United
States, 2005 (annual) U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.
"Health, United States is an annual report on trends in health statistics.
The report consists of two main sections: A chartbook containing text and
figures that illustrates major trends in the health of Americans; and a
trend tables section that contains 156 detailed data tables. The two main
components are supplemented by an executive summary, a highlights section,
an extensive appendix and reference section, and an index." Has tables
on health care expenditures and payors and health care coverage
and major Federal programs.
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004 U.S. Census Bureau
GoogleUncleSam Search all .gov and .mil sites
Also use the advanced search feature in Google. Try limiting your search (by domain) to .org and .edu websites.
Some Great Websites for Health Policy Material
Health and Welfare (Gov't Documents Roundtable-American Library Assoc.)
Health Insurance (University of Louisville Libraries)
Health and Social Services (Columbia University Libraries)
(Health) Issue Spotlight (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Prescription Drugs (University of Louisville Libraries-Gov't Resources)
National Health Expenditure Data (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Issue
Summary: Health (Basics)
and Health
Policy-Issue Summaries from Centrists.Org--"a think tank and
communications center for bipartisan policymaking. Centrists.Org provides
detailed and practical centrist policy ideas that adhere to basic principles
of fairness, cooperation and responsibility. It also serves as a clearinghouse
for centrist ideas from outside experts."
Alliance for Health Reform--this
one looks conservative to me. Good information.
Covering
Health Issues 2004 a useful monograph posted to the website
of the Alliance for Health Reform.
Families USA: the Voice for Health Care Consumers--and this one looks more liberal--also good info.
U.S. Health Reform (Boston University. School of Public Health)
Public Agenda-Health Care "A non-partisan opinion research and civic engagement organization..."
Oregon
Oregon Health Policy and Research
Prioritization of Health Services List used by the Oregon Legislature to fund those health services shown to provide the most benefit.
2004
Health Care Background Briefs. Oregon State Legislature. Committee
Services Office.
This link takes you to main page. Click through "Committee Services
Publications," then choose both 2003 and 2004 Background Briefs. You
will find a lot on different issues in Health Care Policy.
International Health
Health Systems (World Health Organization)
Health Topics (World Health Organization)
WHO - International Digest of Health Legislation
World Health Report Statistical Annex
Eldis/HRC Health Systems Resource Guide (British organization funded by the UK Dept. for International Development DFID) This site is loaded with information on European health systems. "Comprehensive coverage of the key issues in health systems."
and NEWS
"The
Uninsured in America" (PBS) NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Interesting and informative look at the issue with many good links--interviews,
statistics.
Turabian Citation Help!
Turabian Style Guide University of Southern Mississippi
MLA Citation Guide Ohio State University Libraries
Uncle
Sam- Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications University of
Memphis
552-6850
November, 2007