Anyone who wants to truly understand the issues regarding better, cheaper, fairer health care must read an insightful book called “The Healing of America,” by T.R. Reid.
It was written in 2009 before the ACA was enacted. He gives a clear and what appears to be an unbiased examination of most of the health care models in the industrialized world.
In America people die: (1) Because they cannot access health care, or (2) the cost is too expensive.
His first point is all the other developed countries on Earth made the moral decision that everybody has a right to health care and guarantees medical care to anyone who gets sick.
The second point is, “The United States is the only developed country that relies on profit-making health insurance companies to pay for essential and elective care.” (p. 36)
In this book he compares the various and sundry health care options. The Bismarck model is chosen by Germany, Japan, Belgium, Switzerland and, to a degree, in Latin America. France has a variation of the Bismarck model. The Beveridge model is prevalent in Great Britain, Italy, Spain and most of Scandinavia. Hong Kong has a variation. The purist form is found in Cuba and the U.S. Veterans Affairs system. The National Health Insurance model is a combination of Bismarck and Beveridge. This is Canada’s model. Taiwan and South Korea have adopted a variation.
Read this book. Learn the facts. You will have a better idea of what health care model you want to support. Better yet, you can articulate why.
Marilyn Stewart
Cottonwood Heights