GETTING BACK TO THE WEEKEND OF MAY 31/JUNE 1 THAT IS.
It was such an active weekend with the “Top Coast Festival” through Sunday morning, and then “Our Country’s Good” matinee at the Guthrie. There was so much I wanted to continue to share.
Personally, I prefer shorter posts, so I’ll save the explanation of what delayed my getting back to you and pick up where I left off with Ezekiel J. Emanuel’s book. Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System. New York: Public Affairs.
I’ve managed to finish reading 158 pages. First a description of the disorganized growth of our extremely complex health care system up to the beginning of work on the “Affordable Care Act” and then “The Surprising History of Health Care Reform in the United States.” As I testified previously, I’m glad I don’t have to take a test on the extremely confusing facts. A few things stood out, though.
(1)That health care in the U.S. is a Three Trillion Dollar industry, bigger than the entire economy of France.
(2)That the high price of health care drains resources from other essential services, like education.
(3)That the first attempt to see that all Americans had health care was made by President Teddy Roosevelt.
(4)That near misses have been thwarted in the past by unrelated Washington scandals sidetracking bipartisan plans.
OK, I said I want to keep it short. Just one more thought. If I can’t pass a test on all the facts, then I can’t be so bold as to support or suggest solutions. I can point out, though, the preamble to our constitution.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United State of America.
Now there’s a tall order if I ever saw one. At any rate, I can’t help noticing how important a healthy populace is to all those goals. If that’s true, then finding an effective and just health care system is a pretty important goal for ”ourselves and our Posterity.”
Of course, as you might guess, I am also influenced by my attempt to be “a follower of the Way” and the subsequent belief we cannot rest until all people, young and old, have fair access to the possibilities for good health.
Next time I’ll post a thank you for our blogging Australian friends for enriching my understand of the play “Our Country’s Good.”
monagustafsonaffinito 