Improving Health Care of the Poor is an in-depth assessment of the extent to which Medicare and Medicaid have met the expectations of the citizens of the United States as well as New York City, and of the challenges to the bureaucracy charged with making these programs work.

The term "the poor" here refers to persons on Medicaid, persons without health insurance, and persons who are underinsured, that is, those whose benefits fall short of their needs. It also includes those who may have insurance coverage, but who are disadvantaged racially, ethnically, or linguistically.

New York City is the focus of this inquiry because of its long-standing commitment to provide essential health care to all citizens irrespective of their ability to pay, its bifurcated hospital system composed of independent yet overlapping voluntary and public sectors, and its vast governmental and private funding. About 10 percent of the 1 million immigrants who enter the United States each year reside, at least temporarily, in New York City. Many lack medical insurance and challenge the health care sector by virtue of their inability to speak English.

Improving Health Care of the Poor is particularly timely and that will benefit policy analysts, sociologists, economists, social scientists, and health care professionals.