As one of the newest offerings in the Jones and Bartlett Essential Public Health series, Essentials of Health Policy and Law provides students of public health with a firm foundation of the basics of American health policy and law. Given the prominent role played by policy and law in the health of all Americans, the aim of this book is to help readers understand the broad context of health policy and law, the essential policy and legal issues impacting and flowing out of the health care and public health systems, and the way health policies and laws are formulated. Think of this textbook as an extended manual introductory, concise, and straightforward to the seminal issues in U.S. health policy and law, and thus as a jumping off point for discussion, reflection, research, and analysis.