Someone sent me a link to this post written by Chris Dunn on “Words and Light.” It is titled: “I’m Furious,” and it begins: “I’m furious because I have to read this book:
“Money-Driven Medicine” by Maggie Mahar
Photo by Chris Dunn
“I’m in my final undergraduate semester, and only now am I taking my first-ever political science course. The class is Public Policy, and for our first paper, we are to read this entire book and write a book review.
“That’s not (exactly) why I’m furious.
“I’m furious because I’m learning, in detail, about the failures of the American health care system according to one author-journalist.
“I’m furious because I procrastinated in starting this book, which has prevented me from going out and making pictures and blogging a real photo for my first entry in this 30-day series.
“I’m furious because, although I’m far more interested in being a photographer than in being a student, my academics and work schedule this semester are severely limiting the time and opportunities I could have to pursue better photography.”
Somehow, this post made me smile.
I wrote to Chris (who is a senior at the University of Missouri, where she majors in journalism, photo-journalism and photography) to say “I’m sorry” the book is so long.
But U.S. health care is a complicated topic, and I wanted to include both facts and stories. (Numbers alone are too boring. Anecdotes alone are not persuasive.)
I also told her that it’s a nice photo of the book—which it is. And the photo on the top of her home page is outstanding. (My husband, who is a photographer, admired it.)
Unfortunately Maggie, though I’ve strongly recommended you’re excellent book, no one reads it. It’s sad that so many people, even otherwise intelligent ones, prefer to get their “information” from cable TV talking heads on both the right and left.
Tom-
Thanks for recommending the book!
It’s true, these days many people don’t read books.
But I’m always suprised that MDM continues to sell–particularly on Barnes & Noble. And it’s beginning to be used in classrooms.
(It has an excellent index, so professors can easily assign sections on particular topics. )
Last Fall, I assigned my nursing students to write a paper on the proposed health care reform focusing on an issue of interest to them on the bill, including reading pertinent portions either the House or Senate bill. I also scheduled time in class for a debate on their papers on the date the paper was due.
It was a lively discussion, with many points of view and perspectives 😀
A bit off topic, but something is bothering me today and I need to get it off my chest. Come to think of it, in a way it may be related to the topic.
When I heard of the president’s idea of a televised bipartisan event once more to achieve something positive with health care reform I was elated. But all I have read or heard in response from all sides is either carefully crafted “positioning” or outright cynicism and negativity. I have yet to come across a single advocate willing to stand firmly in favor of supporting the notion of a sincere attempt, at least once, to do anything bipartisan.
It goes without saying that anything bipartisan will be more symbolic than real, but even that would be better than the shameless bickering that has characterized all sides of the issue. Besides, I cannot imagine that all the many thousands of hours, days and weeks of work will be mindlessly tossed away, even by some of the most outspoken critics. At some level even they understand that doing nothing is tantamount to watching a train wreck and doing nothing to avoid it.
Am I alone in expecting something positive from the February 25 event?
I am a Political Science major at the University of Missouri in the same Public Policy course as Chris. I would like to thank you for writing Money Driven Medicine; it has given me a great perspective on our current health care system and has helped me understand the debate far greater than I previously did. Yes, the book is rather long, and reading it has taken up a lot of my time, but it was worth it. Anything shorter would have been a disservice to the complexity of this problem. It is getting late, and I am not yet done writing a review of the book, but I noticed this post on your blog (which I have been reading since last month) and wanted to acknowledge it. Again, thank you for your hard work Dr. Mahar.
Good to see that such subversive literature is allowed on college courses in America.
John, Panacea, Bryan & Marc
John-
What the president is trying to do is unprecedented, so I really don’t know what will happen.
But I think doing it on C-Span will simply encourage much posturing and less truth-telling. (Everyone will be trying to impress the voters back home rather than dealing seriously with the issues at hand. I expect a lot of rhetoric.
Maybe it will make the American people feel better–I don’t know.
Finally, I’m not hopeful about any real bi-partisan solution because the Republicans have made it clear that they are not interested in universal coverage.
Universal coverage is not in their proposal.
They are intersted in cutting costs–though so far they haven’t come up with any very effective way of cutting costs.
For the Democrats, universal coverage is at the very heart of health care reform. They recognize that in order to afford universal coverage we will have to cut costs, and their legislation opens the door to changing the way we pay (“bundling payments) and what we pay for (using comparative effectiveness reseraach) and how care is delivered (bonuses for accountable care organizations.)
The House Democrats want to raise seed money by taxing those who earn over $500,000 (so that we can provide subsidies to low-income and middle-class families.)
The Republicans are opposed to a tax on the wealthy. Theywould tax expensive insurance plans– the cost would be passed down to employees, many of them middle-class who happen to work for small firms with many older employees or in an industry where accidents make insurance expensive. .
These are major differences. The biggest one is whether or not we have an obligation, as a civilized society to provide high quality affordable care to all Americans. The Republicans say “no.” The
Democrats say “yes.” I don’t see how they are going to get around this.
Panacea– good to hear your students are reading the bills.
Bryan– Thanks for taking the time to write to me, I appreciate it.
Good luck with the review!
Marc– Yes, I’m pretty happy to hear that a college course is giving students a chance to take a critical look at what it means when medicine is money-driven.
I understand the American ideal of the bipartisan approach and the ‘checks and balances’ inherent in your political system, and indeed your over-representation of less populous states. But at the end of the day the very definition of politics is a struggle between interest groups, and universal healthcare and narrowing health inequalities will only happen by taking on and winning against the wealth and privilege that Republicans are so keen to protect.
I discovered this site while searching for information about the cost of a typical piece of direct mail from an insurance company. I am retired and under the traditional medicare plan. Each week my wife and I each receive several high quality print packages trying to get us to convert to some Medicare Advantage program. If only this money were being directed to providing someone medical care. (And how much are these companies wasting on direct mail campaigns?)
Glenn
Marc & Glenn
Marc– You are, of course, entirely right. In the U.S. we tend to be reluctant to acknowledge the degree to which some political issues revolve around class issues, and the wealthy not wanting to pay for the poor.
Conservatives have every right to their point of view, which tends to be that individuals should take care of themselves–it’s not society’s jobs.
Conservatives empahsize “personal responsibilty.”
I don’t happen to agree, but it is a point of view.
What’s frustrating is that so many Americans are not willing to recognize that this is what the conservatives are saying.
They like to pretend that in the U.S. there is no such thing as class– no economic classes, and that anyone who tries to talk about class is trying to start class warfare.
Glenn–
These direct mail campaigns add to insurers’ costs –but compared to the television ads that drug companies and hospitals run, they are relatively inexpensive!
Great books and literature always remarked.But I know the lack of time in this fast life some one complete this book!But it is fantastic for all the rich and high profile personality.
md d3real-
Thank you!