"The public health care state has developed as completely decentralized, in collaboration with voluntary organizations, and under the banner of "non-political" scientific agencies. The early history of this system explains how and why public health leaders were able to hide its growth in later periods. Understanding this foundational history is important for three reasons. First, the state-voluntary collaboration shaped the U.S. health care system, leaving it fragmented and unequal. Second, leaders in the public health coalition characterized the state's close collaboration with the voluntary sector as "private provision," abetting the beginning of the American Myth and setting the stage for grow-and-hide. And third, this formative history provides insight as to why the mixture of public and private "has been so ubiquitous in American history as to be almost invisible.""-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction : America's expanding, unequal and hidden health care state --Part I. The emergence of a public health care state : 1860-1930. A conspicuous public health care state : science, federalism, and the voluntary sector -- Expanding public health boundaries -- Public health planning : hope for a unified public-private system -- Part II. The rise of grow and hide : 1930-1965. The new public health deal : an alternative to insurance -- The voluntary way hides the role of government -- Solidifying the grow-and-hide approach -- Part III. The consequences of grow and hide : 1965-2020. Fragmentation : the failure of health care planning -- Profiteering : the hidden financial industry takeover -- Inequality : how Medicaid is designed to grow and hide -- The ACA embraces grow and hide -- Conclusion : Possibilities for change : reveal and mobilize.