A Primer on Health Care
When you're dealing with a topic like universal health care, it begs a clear definition. Some hear the term and think it can only be applied to their favorite solution – say, single-payer – or their least favorite – socialized medicine. Others don’t know what to think. It sounds good in principle, but what does it mean?
Background Posts on Health Care
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For the purposes of the debate we’ll have together on this blog, and the debate that will echo in the halls of Congress and in living rooms across the country this year, let’s try this definition: “Universal health care means giving coverage to every American, reducing the costs of our wasteful system to make care affordable for every American, and ensuring the care we receive has the best quality.” Think of it as a three-legged stool – if one of the legs isn’t sturdy, the whole thing will topple over. You need all three to be truly universal.
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The notion of comprehensive health care reform is not controversial anymore. Indeed, a December 2008 Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 77% of Americans, cutting across the ideological spectrum, felt that President Obama should tackle a major overhaul of the health care system, with a majority saying he should do so immediately after entering office. But aside from a notion that our broken system needs fundamental change, there are significant differences of opinion as to when and how politics or policy should intervene.
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Health care is more than just a collection of numbers, statistics and price points. It’s a collection of stories: how we do or do not help each other in our hour of need; how in the richest country on earth, we’ve made basic health, wellness and care a commodity to be bought and sold rather than an essential right; and how the free market that can promote such efficiencies for companies can promote such an inefficient and harmful system. The good news – health care is also made up of success stories from other countries, as well as the stories of those of us who are willing to fight for change.
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If our history has taught us anything, it’s that when the people are motivated and demand that change happens, no force on earth can stop it. That’s good news, because to solve something as complex and as fundamentally broken as health care in America, it really is going to take all of us doing our part – nothing less will do. Here are ten ways to get started today.
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Washington D.C. is not the only place to find the most influential voices in the health care debate. You can also find them on book sites and the blogosphere – and sometimes all three. The books, blog posts and position papers below offer the best indicator of the paths 2009’s health care debate will take.
Universal Health Care: What Does Winning Look Like?
The Top Five Controversies in Health Care Today
Top 10 Health Care Online Videos
10 Actions You Can Take to Achieve Health Care Reform
Top 10 Reads in Health Care
Meet the New Healthcare Editor
Health Care Guide
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Gillian Hubble
- Tucson, AZ
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Gillian Hubble is owner of Actively Fused, a consulting and healthcare advocacy firm, and a partner in KDG, a business development firm.
Other Contributors
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Timothy Foley
- New York, NY
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Tim has been an online organizer and blogger on health care policy for the Obama for America campaign (during the primaries) and currently for the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU Healthcare, a labor union for intern and resident doctors. Views expressed here are Tim's, and don't represent the positions of CIR or SEIU.
