Top 10 Reads in Health Care

Published December 30, 2008 @ 07:57AM PT

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.

Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis (2008)
Sen. Tom Daschle, Jeanne M. Lambrew, Scott S. Greenberger

This book came out in February, 2008 when the presidential primaries were still in full swing. Now Daschle has been named both the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, with Lambrew as his Deputy Director in that office (yo, Greenberger, you need to ring up your co-authors, man). In short, the two people entrusted with making health care reform happen have already explained their game plan. Their central idea – the creation of a Federal Health Board similar to the Federal Reserve Board to establish uniform standards of affordability and compensation insulated from the political process – is the most important health care proposal you’ve never heard of.

The Lessons of ‘94
Ezra Klein

A popular blogger for The American Prospect, Ezra is one of most thoughtful progressive voices, with a particular focus on health care reform. His analysis of why the Clinton health care reform effort of 1993-1994 fell apart and what lessons we can learn from that failed effort is essential reading.

Health Care for America (2007)
Jacob S. Hacker

If John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton seemed to be proposing more or less the same solution for covering the uninsured during the primaries… it’s because they were. And they owe a debt to Jacob Hacker, whose Health Care for America position paper explains the rationale for a public plan based on Medicare competing with private insurance plans in more depth than any of the presidential candidates ever did.

Tales of a Family Doctor
Aaron Roland, MD

Dr. Roland is a primary care provider and part of Physicians for a National Health Plan, a 15,000-member advocacy organization dedicated to achieving a single-payer health care system in the U.S. His moving description of a day in the life of his small practice in California unforgettably illustrates how our broken system is hurting doctors, patients, families and anyone who works in health care alike.

On Health Care Reform Stimulating the Economy: The Massachusetts Example
Maggie Mahar

The Massachusetts universal health care plan is the most recent experiment of bringing individuals, businesses and government together to achieve coverage for all. Health Beat Blog and Century Foundation blogger Maggie Mahar thoroughly analyzes the progress of the Massachusetts Health Connector and exposes what happens when access is extended to everyone, but cost control and quality issues lag behind.

Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America (2008)
Ezekiel Emmanuel, MD and Victor Fuchs

Much like Tom Daschle’s book, Healthcare, Guaranteed showcases the ideas of Dr. Zeke Emmanuel, former chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Insititutes of Health and now senior counselor for health policy at the White House Office of Management and Budget (not to mention the brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel). Working with Economics Professor Victor Fuchs, Dr. Emmauel makes the case for dismantling employer-based health care in this country, heavily regulating the insurance industry for quality and affordability, and empowering consumers to choose the plan that best fits them – an approach that has admirers among conservatives and progressives alike.

Call to Action: Health Care Reform 2009 (2008)
Sen. Max Baucus

In addition to laying out his principles and favored solutions for comprehensive health care reform legislation (legislation whose creation he’s primed to play a major role in as chair of the Senate Finance Committee), Baucus’ white paper also serves as a surprisingly accessible overview of all of the problems with our current system, including insurance, cost, public programs, and prevention, but also delving into health disparities, physician training and compensation, medical malpractice, transparency and long-term care.

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

If you can only check one site each day for the latest in health care reform news… well, come here to Change.org! But if you can only check two sites, make this comprehensive daily briefing, prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, your second stop for a daily summation of debate in the news, in the blogosphere, on opinion pages and at the state level.

Achieving a High-Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries (2008)
American College of Physicians (Ginsburg et al.)

If other members of the G8 enter our consciousness in discussing American health care, it’s often in highly misleading old wives tales. Not all universal health care systems are single-payer, nor does an increased role for government automatically lead to deficient quality and efficiency. In this position paper, the American College of Physicians does what it does best – present the “just the facts, ma’am” numbers on how the United States stacks up to other countries in a variety of criteria, and what we can learn from the best in the world. The results are guaranteed to surprise you.

5 Myths About Our Ailing Health Care System
Ezekiel Emmanuel, MD and Shannon Brownlee

Dr. Zeke Emmanuel makes his second appearance on this list, this time teaming with Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer. This opinion piece, originally published in the Washington Post takes aim at the fallacies on the left and the right that impede our progress on achieving real reform that attacks the root of the problem.

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Comments (11)

Since attendees at the health care forums around the country have expressed strong support for a publicly-funded single payer system, please add the following book to your list:

10 Excellent Reasons for National Health CareEdited by Mary O’Brien and Martha Livingston
From the Foreward by Representative John Conyers Jr.:This insightful book will provide you with the information you need to be an informed participant in the public debate about how to achieve health care for all. This information is especially important now, during this election year.Within the chapters of this book and in the resource guide in the back, you will find cutting-edge information to help you work toward the only sensible solution to our health care crisis: a single-payer national health insurance program. Contributors to this book include doctors, nurses, patients, and an international union leader. They discuss the benefits of a single-payer plan: that it is cost-effective; will provide choice, quality, and better health for Americans; will help to reduce health care disparities; will make doctors and nurses better able to do their jobs; and will benefit both workers and businesses. They also explain why single-payer universal health care is the only approach that can guarantee Americans the health care that they need when they need it, and explain how, by working together, we can achieve the goal of health care for all.

The New Press: 10 Excellent Reasons for National Health Care
http://www.thenewpress.com/index.php?option=com_title&task=view_title&metaproductid=1711

Harriette Seiler
Louisville, KY

Posted by HM Seiler on 01/04/2009 @ 06:48PM PT
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Thanks for the recommendation, Harriette. I did have an entry representing the single-payer view point (Tales of a Family Doctor by Aaron Roland, MD), but I'm glad you included the link to your reading in the comments.

Other visitors to this post should feel free to also send your own recommendations!

Posted by Timothy Foley on 01/04/2009 @ 06:57PM PT
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I'm surprised to not find Dr. Arnold Relman's book, "A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care" on this list. Dr. Relman makes an excellent case for a single-payer health care system and points out how the commercialization of medicine and conflicts of interests undermining the medical profession have contributed to the high cost and relatively poor quality of health care in the United States. I recommend this book to anyone interested in health care reform.

Posted by Terrence Rose on 02/04/2009 @ 02:15PM PT
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I am glad "10 Excellent Reasons for National Healthcare" was mentioned and should really be on your list. There is another recent book that is very good by John Geyman, MD. It is "Do Not Resuscitate:Why the Health Insurance Industry is Dying and How We Must Replace it"
Elizabeth Rosenthal, MD

Posted by Elizabeth RosenthaL on 02/04/2009 @ 04:03PM PT
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You have neglected to include, arguably the most important book on healthcare The Innovator's Prescription by Clayton Christensen. Christensen applies the principles of disruptive innovation to the broken health care system and analyzes the strategies that will improve health care and make it affordable for everyone.

Posted by Tara Baumgarten on 02/11/2009 @ 09:05AM PT
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Well, ya' can't include EVERYthing in only a "top ten" list. That is what the comment boxes are for. UPCOMING PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITY HERE connected with the above.
------------------------------------------------------------
How to get Universal Health Care

With the economy in crisis, reforming our health care might seem like a lesser priority- but with thousands losing their jobs--and benefits--it's more important than ever before. John Geyman has taken the lead in explaining how a single-payer system can provide comprehensive, universal health care for America, both as a Tikkun author, and as former head of Physicians for a National Health Program. Now we're pleased to welcome Mr. Geyman to the Tikkun/NSP Phone Forum, Monday February 23rd at 9pm EST/6pm PST!

Just call 1 888 346 3950 and ENTER CODE 11978

Tikkun Managing Editor Dave Belden will interview John Geyman for twenty minutes, then he'll take questions from YOU!

The Tikkun/NSP Phone Forum is meant for current members of the NSP/Tikkun Community and/or current subscribers to Tikkun. If you have not yet joined, you can do so now. Just go to www.spiritualprogressives.org and become a member (with membership comes a free subscription to Tikkun). Or, if you are not yet ready to join, then subscribe to the magazine here. The Tikkun/NSP Phone Forum works much better when you have already read the article in Tikkun before joining the call, and is meant as a gift to our members and subscribers. If you are with us in spirit but can't afford to subscribe, please know that you are very welcome on the calls.

MONDAYS, 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST)

Feb 23: How to get Universal Health Care - John Geyman, professor emeritus of family medicine at U of Washington, past president of Physicians for a National Health Program.

March 2: Raising Spiritually Healthy Children - Deborah Haffner, director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing, author of What Every 21st-Century Parent Needs to Know (Newmarket Press, 2008).

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Posted by Ani L. Schwartz on 02/22/2009 @ 01:46AM PT
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The name has been changed from socialized medicine to universal health care. The media has uniformly obeyed their bosses, and has scared people into thinking that socialized medicine is a bad thing. How insane is that?

Andre

Posted by Andre Janssens on 02/22/2009 @ 08:29AM PT
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"They" have been tweaking our language and ruining a lot of good names for a loooong time. It is no wonder "they" are "insane", esp when "they" start to actually "believe" thier "own" propaganda (which "they" never own up to). OK ... So let's see this "Universal Health Care" already!!!! [LMHO!].
Now they have a new name to ruin. If they had ANY IDEA of the depths of meaning in the word "Universal" WE would not be in trouble today. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha:
"Universal" is more "socialistic" than "Socialized"! ...
More good fodder for our Comedian Allies.

Posted by Ani L. Schwartz on 02/22/2009 @ 07:49PM PT
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"The Healing of America" by Reid

He traveled the world and did the work for us. He outlines each country and how they manage healthcare. Even down to trading chickens or painting a wall in return for healthcare. Interesting stuff, I highly recommend it!

Also, visit moneydrivenmedicine.org for lots of good info!

Posted by CherokeeGirl for Change on 10/28/2009 @ 04:12PM PT
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We need to improve this economy and decrease undocumented population. If U.S. Immigration reform could achieve these two goals maybe we could get a legalization system that works.

If employers would stop violating the laws and make a legal work place for a legal workforce and if there was a way to stop deporting workers who have been waiting to receive legal status.

Posted by Mary Acosta on 01/14/2010 @ 12:08PM PT
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What I was getting at is that we can't just exclude immigrants from receiving health care.

Posted by Mary Acosta on 01/14/2010 @ 12:10PM PT
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Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

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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.