Friday, December 18, 2009

Health Care Should Be Driven by Mission, Not Money

Philip Caper, M.D.

As health care reform legislation enters a critical phase in Congress, it's important to keep our eye on the ball - elements essential to the success of any reform effort. In order to define those elements, we must have a clear understanding of the nature of the pathology in our dysfunctional health care system.

Modern high-tech health care is a right of the residents of most wealthy countries in the world - except the United States. America is exceptional in this regard. It is also exceptional in being the only wealthy nation where health care is considered to be a business.

To read a PDF of the full article, click here.

The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office

A Book Review by Philip Caper, M.D.

In many ways, the new book by David Blumenthal and James Morone is a fine dissertation on the role of the presidency and a succession of American presidents, stretching back to FDR, in the formulation of health care policy in the United States. But it does not address a central question. What are the barriers to reform of the American health-care system? Why has it been so difficult for American politicians to create a statutory right to health care for Americans - a right that every other affluent democracy created years ago?

To read a PDF of the full review, click here.