A few nights ago I attended a dinner and lecture at the local dining venue where they served huge hunks of prime rib and sauteed snow peas from some far away place where it's Spring, and chocolate mousse and wild rice. Global warming increased just slightly due to our excess consumption, but my portion would have been wasted had I stayed home. Beside the food, I was curious to see what the healthcare lobbyist who spoke had to say about where healthcare reform is headed. I was surprised to find that he was almost entirely positive about what was going on and that in general he said things that I agreed with. How could this be? Healthcare lobbyists generally want the industry they represent to get as much money as possible. I generally want the healthcare industry to rein in its excesses and be more conscientious and efficient. Clearly there is some agenda here that I don't understand. Either that or efficiency and reining in excesses is beginning to align itself with the s...
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.