Reddit reviews Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach, Seventh Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Health-Policy-Clinical-Approach/dp/1259584755/ is an excellent introduction to the healthcare system in the USA.

With regards to "how we got where we are" and "where are we now," as someone else noted, Starr's The Social Transformation of American Medicine is an excellent history of the medical institution, at least until the 80's. Freidson's Profession of Medicine: A Study of the Sociology of Applied Knowledge is also superb. After that, you'll want to look at articles such as "The Shifting Engines of Medicalization" by Conrad (http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/46/1/3.abstract) and The Continued Social Transformation of The Medical Profession (http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/51/1_suppl/S94.abstract) by Timmerman and Ohs for a look at where the field is now.

This is one of the best introductory books:

Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach by Thomas Bodenheimer & Kevin Grumbach

Note that Bodenheimer coined the "Quadruple Aim." It has great examples.

Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach

So there's a lot of discussion in this thread and I might get downvoted, but it is unfortunately not so simple for the US to just switch to universal healthcare (or universal Medicaid). Our system is dysfunctional, but it's a giant disgusting tumor that essentially lives on the largest and most vital parts of our economy, and you can't just cut it out. Love it or hate it our healthcare system, the way it is, employs millions of people in administration and health insurance who do jobs specific to this system. Obamacare was sabotaged by Republicans, but even Obamacare was just a band-aid and not a true fix.

If you want to get an excellent and academic overview of the issues facing US healthcare policy, check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Health-Policy-Clinical-Approach/dp/1259584755/