According to The Pew Research Center one of the top three issues voters are concerned with in the 2024 election is healthcare. This topic is massive and extremely complex. I wanted to give you a list of books that would highlight many different perspectives and entry points into the healthcare system; from doctors to patients, from historians to journalists.

The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine by Ricardo Nuila

This work of narrative nonfiction combines the compelling stories of uninsured patients with health care policy all from the perspective of a doctor at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston. Ben Taub is where people without insurance can go to get treatment, and is an example of what might be possible in health care in the United States if more cities were to take on caring for their citizens regardless of insurance coverage.

Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock, MD

Dr. Uché Blackstock details her life as a Black physician in this memoir. We get to see her grow into herself as a doctor, which also means confronting the racism that is embedded in the medical profession, plus we see how biases and racism impact her patients and beyond. This book explores the intersections of race, gender, and healthcare and leaves the reader with a lot to think about especially in the ways that a scientific field can be political.

The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town by Brian Alexander

Alexander takes us into the hospital in Bryan,OH; a hospital that is fighting for its own survival as it loses money and tries to stay open. We see the lives of the patients as well as the larger system that has this hospital in peril. It is especially interesting to glimpse the inner workings of a small town hospital and how that contrasts to depictions of big city operations.

An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal

A shocking look into the American healthcare system. It is filled with information that will blow your mind and make you rage. It tackles the way healthcare in the US has been in decline for decades and also gives the reader some ideas of what can be done to fix the issue.

The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry by Paul Star

This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, and it is easy to see why. The Social Transformation of American Medicine chronicles the ever changing landscape of healthcare over the last 250 years (this newer addition addresses some of what has changed since the book was written) from the blocking of universal healthcare to the takeover of medicine by major corporations. This book will give you the much needed context from which many of the most polarizing debates in healthcare are born.

What Doesn’t Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness – Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller

I wanted to make sure to include the stories of patients in this list, because I think many of us have experienced the clusterfuck that is American healthcare, but often we only know our stories, and don’t get to hear from others who have struggled for care, too. In the case of Miller’s book, we get a glimpse into the frustrating and isolating experiences of folks living with chronic illness. Miller shares personal elements, a la memoir, but also explores a more broad journalistic approach to understanding her own life in the context of the health system.

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

At the age of 22 Jaoud was diagnosed with leukemia, and given a 35% chance of survival. In this memoir we follow Jaoud on her journey inside the healthcare system and beyond. We see how medicine impacts the body and psyche of cancer patients. We also see how community is fostered and alienated in this remarkably moving memoir.