While words are hand grenades in health care, we need to either change the language or stop focusing on words. Our work over the last six years has shown that more consensus exists on health care than we are led to believe. What has happened is that the health care reform discussion has been held hostage to the diatribes of two extremes. We are a practical people who want to solve problems. We distrust labels and solutions, and we are a lot smarter than we are given credit for when it comes to health care reform. InTheirVoices.pdf

I hope we can all cool down and roll up our shirt sleeves and get to work to build a health care system that works for us, not against us.

Best,

Kathleen.

Much of the health care reform debate now will be negative campaigning.  All the other various reform groups will be focused on their ads and negative press, but CodeBlueNow! and a few other groups are bringing new possibility to the table.

Or country has had enough negativity – it’s time we rally around a fresh vision and take health care out of a partisan political fight. We are working on a health care platform for the people, a template we can then present to Congress. Another group is doing things in a positive way, also.

Faithful Reform in Health Care is trying to raise 100,000 voices to bring compassion, value and vision to health care.  Click here to support their campaign.

Faithful Reform, like CodeBlueNow! is a national, nonpartisan, 501(c)3.

Today’s Boston Globe announced Senator Kennedy’s leadership in pressing for bipartisan health care reform.

But a review of the article shows the folks working on this “bipartisan” effort are all the usual suspects looking to flawed ideas.  Congress and key advocacy groups have made up their mind on what we need to do, without consulting the public.

Congress is incapable of finding a bipartisan solution. It is a bitterly partisan institution that doesn’t listen to the other side.  I think the Democrats are hoping they will get a large enough majority in the House and Senate to pass a health care bill in 2009.  But, to pass this bill, they will need some Republican support, especially in the Senate.  The Massachusetts bill is badly flawed.  There are no cost containment measures. 

The public is deeply concerned about the Wyden-Bennett Bill. 

What Congress and/or the Candidates should be doing is building consensus on some core elements of a plan that would have support across party lines. It clearly exists, as CodeBlueNow!’s research shows.

This should be a wakeup call to the parties and the candidates.  What is the definition of insanity? “Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.” 

We can no longer leave health care reform to the candidates and advocacy organizations, they have failed us since 1929. 

Cheers and more later. Kathleen

We are starting a series on our blog on what other countries’ health care systems look like.   Significant misinformation exists on other health systems, so we thought we would start by taking a look at a few key countries that operate most like the US.  Anne Kinzel, JD, has been writing about France.  She has one more post on that, but we wanted to start with some other countries as well.  Basically, covering everyone is not rocket science.  It does, however, take political courage and public will.

Before we take a look at these systems, here is what many of them have that we do not:

• One national agency that negotiates rates and defines services
• One standard set of services for everyone
• Employer and individual may add more benefits
• Administrative simplicity
• Standards
• Majority of physicians are primary care
• Private, nonprofit insurance companies
• Mediation prior to litigation for malpractice

The simple act of having one basic set of services for everyone eliminates the vast complexity that drowns our health care system.  If we had one basic set of services that everyone was eligible, we would eliminate probably a third of the cost of our health care system. 

We will look at these issues in greater depth as we move forward.  We invite your comments and insights. 

Cheers and more later.  Kathleen