Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform lays out in clear, straightforward terms what's wrong with our healthcare system and how to fix it. Jonathan Cohn's Sick combines big-picture analysis with real-world reporting to show how that system fails to deliver affordable, adequate care to millions of ordinary Americans and their families.

As Dean, himself a physician, explains, millions of Americans lack health insurance; millions more pay for coverage that doesn't protect them from serious illness; and the status quo leaves Americans at the mercy of corporate interests.

Cohn, one of America's most respected healthcare journalists, reports from all across the nation, describing the all-too-common health-care woes of everyday Americans.

* In Boston, a heart attack victim becomes a casualty of emergency-room overcrowding when she is turned away from the one hospital that could treat her
* In South Central Los Angeles, a security guard loses part of his vision when he can't find affordable treatment for his diabete
* In Tennessee, a man learns that Medicaid will no longer cover his prescription drugs and, having stopped taking them, dies;
* In Chicago, a former nun is sued by the Catholic hospital chain because she failed to fill out the proper paperwork.

Americans have pondered how to reform healthcare since the days of Harry Truman. But for most Americans, little has changed—except that healthcare costs have soared, health insurance companies have grown bigger and more oppressive to both doctors and patients.

What is to be done?

Dean argues passionately that healthcare reform, done right, means giving Americans--all Americans--a choice between private and public health insurance coverage. "America has had 'socialized' medicine since 1964," says Dean. "It's called Medicare; it covers every American over 65, and they are very happy with the program. The rest of America deserves a similar option." Likewise, Cohn's persuasive conclusion is that "universal care deserves a fresh look."

Taken together, these books clearly diagnose what ails our healthcare system; vividly show how that system fails ordinary Americans every day; lay out what true reform is--and isn't; and lay out the action steps for policymakers and citizens alike to ensure that affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare for all Americans becomes a reality.