Top 10 Reads in Health Care

Washington D.C. is not the only place to find the most influential voices in the health care debate.  You can also find them on book sites and the blogosphere – and sometimes all three.  The books, blog posts and position papers below offer the best indicator of the paths 2009’s health care debate will take.

Critical:  What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis (2008)
Sen. Tom Daschle, Jeanne M. Lambrew, Scott S. Greenberger

This book came out in February, 2008 when the presidential primaries were still in full swing.  Now Daschle has been named both the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, with Lambrew as his Deputy Director in that office (yo, Greenberger, you need to ring up your co-authors, man).  In short, the two people entrusted with making health care reform happen have already explained their game plan.  Their central idea – the creation of a Federal Health Board similar to the Federal Reserve Board to establish uniform standards of affordability and compensation insulated from the political process – is the most important health care proposal you’ve never heard of.

The Lessons of ‘94
Ezra Klein

A popular blogger for The American Prospect, Ezra is one of most thoughtful progressive voices, with a particular focus on health care reform.  His analysis of why the Clinton health care reform effort of 1993-1994 fell apart and what lessons we can learn from that failed effort is essential reading.

Health Care for America (2007)
Jacob S. Hacker

If John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton seemed to be proposing more or less the same solution for covering the uninsured during the primaries… it’s because they were.  And they owe a debt to Jacob Hacker, whose Health Care for America position paper explains the rationale for a public plan based on Medicare competing with private insurance plans in more depth than any of the presidential candidates ever did.

Tales of a Family Doctor
Aaron Roland, MD

Dr. Roland is a primary care provider and part of Physicians for a National Health Plan, a 15,000-member advocacy organization dedicated to achieving a single-payer health care system in the U.S.  His moving description of a day in the life of his small practice in California unforgettably illustrates how our broken system is hurting doctors, patients, families and anyone who works in health care alike.

On Health Care Reform Stimulating the Economy:  The Massachusetts Example
Maggie Mahar

The Massachusetts universal health care plan is the most recent experiment of bringing individuals, businesses and government together to achieve coverage for all.  Health Beat Blog and Century Foundation blogger Maggie Mahar thoroughly analyzes the progress of the Massachusetts Health Connector and exposes what happens when access is extended to everyone, but cost control and quality issues lag behind.

Healthcare, Guaranteed:  A Simple, Secure Solution for America (2008)
Ezekiel Emmanuel, MD and Victor Fuchs

Much like Tom Daschle’s book, Healthcare, Guaranteed showcases the ideas of Dr. Zeke Emmanuel, former chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Insititutes of Health and now senior counselor for health policy at the White House Office of Management and Budget (not to mention the brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel).  Working with Economics Professor Victor Fuchs, Dr. Emmauel makes the case for dismantling employer-based health care in this country, heavily regulating the insurance industry for quality and affordability, and empowering consumers to choose the plan that best fits them – an approach that has admirers among conservatives and progressives alike.

Call to Action:  Health Care Reform 2009 (2008)
Sen. Max Baucus

In addition to laying out his principles and favored solutions for comprehensive health care reform legislation (legislation whose creation he’s primed to play a major role in as chair of the Senate Finance Committee), Baucus’ white paper also serves as a surprisingly accessible overview of all of the problems with our current system, including insurance, cost, public programs, and prevention, but also delving into health disparities, physician training and compensation, medical malpractice, transparency and long-term care.

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

If you can only check one site each day for the latest in health care reform news… well, come here to Change.org!  But if you can only check two sites, make this comprehensive daily briefing, prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, your second stop for a daily summation of debate in the news, in the blogosphere, on opinion pages and at the state level.

Achieving a High-Performance Health Care System with Universal Access: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries (2008)
American College of Physicians (Ginsburg et al.)

If other members of the G8 enter our consciousness in discussing American health care, it’s often in highly misleading old wives tales.  Not all universal health care systems are single-payer, nor does an increased role for government automatically lead to deficient quality and efficiency.  In this position paper, the American College of Physicians does what it does best – present the “just the facts, ma’am” numbers on how the United States stacks up to other countries in a variety of criteria, and what we can learn from the best in the world.  The results are guaranteed to surprise you.

5 Myths About Our Ailing Health Care System
Ezekiel Emmanuel, MD and Shannon Brownlee

Dr. Zeke Emmanuel makes his second appearance on this list, this time teaming with Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated:  Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer.  This opinion piece, originally published in the Washington Post takes aim at the fallacies on the left and the right that impede our progress on achieving real reform that attacks the root of the problem.