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Reinventing American Healthcare is a very in-depth overview of the US healthcare system, its incentives and interactions, and the contents of the Affordable Care Act. As detailed and data-driven as this book is, I would still call it a stepping stone to being an informed participant in the health care system and related politics today. It's shining points are in its use of data and tables to add rigor alongside well written explanations of complex systems. It does make it all very accessible to understand.

This book was written a few years ago now, though, and its author is definitely an optimist. The books weaker points are in its predictions of how the ACA's implementation would play out, as there is missing context of the world today. That said, Emanuel does acknowledge this risk in putting certain predictions down on paper, and acknowledges that complex legislation will always have unintended consequences. So, if you can treat this optimism and these predictions not as evidence against the author's authority, but instead as a light into what was intended to happen, this book can give a great grounding into understanding today's health system problems and future reform.