President Obama's deadline for health care reform has come and passed. CBO has just come out with estimates of how much the reform will cost, and members of congress are still finalizing bills on which to vote. By now much of the country is just fed up with the proposals, as can be seen in the polls with a majority of Americans not supporting the current reform efforts. I was tuning out of the debates recently because I came to the conclusion that whatever the final bill would be, it would be so tainted by the lobbyists and special interests that it would just be a more expensive version of our current system. But upon hearing a recent presentation in a podcast from the Commonwealth Club of California (of which I am a member) the idealist inside of me was inspired to see hope on the horizon. Even if we do not get it right this time, Americans know the issues much better now and are much more prepared on the next go round. And if we could all hear this presentation it would make the decision making a little easier:
http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/09/09-09reid-audio.html
This gentleman outlines four basic models of health care around the world. It is surprising how socialized our system actually is and how privatized the European model is. Further, I never thought of how our system in the US is a conglomeration of many systems, rather than one based on who can afford insurance coverage. My opinion on health care has been changing recently due to a discussion I had with an Albanian co-worker of mine. He had grown up partly under the European system and had some insights into how health care is delivered there. But more on that later. Just listen to the podcast through the link. Or you can listen to it via iTunes.
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