Thursday, May 31, 2007

Gawande on health reform: "It is not single-payer"

His most recent op-ed talks about the health reform possibilities:
This is what that road looks like. It is not single-payer. It instead follows the lead of European countries ranging from the Netherlands to Switzerland to Germany that provide universal coverage (and more doctors, hospitals and access to primary care) through multiple private insurers while spending less money than we do. The proposals all define basic benefits that insurers must offer without penalty for pre-existing conditions. They cover not just expensive sickness care, but also preventive care and cost-saving programs to give patients better control of chronic illnesses like diabetes and asthma.

Posted by Kevin | link | Comments (3) | Submit Gawande on health reform: Submit Gawande on health reform: Submit Gawande on health reform: Submit Gawande on health reform:


Comments:
I know not whether Dr. Gawande is a good doctor, but about health care reform, he is either only partially informed, or outright disingenuous.

The "private" insurance system in Germany is actually a mandatory system backed by the state. Private insurance is of the top-off kind only. Oh, and the tag line for the state-provided care is "not enough to live, too much to die".

Cheers,
Felix Kasza.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8:02 PM
 
Ummm, sorry but I don't buy the advice of ANYONE posting on "Tennessee Guerilla Women: Fighting the radical right in Tennessee and the rest of the nation".
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 9:24 PM
 
funny.. they read medical blogs, but your previous readers don't seem to know who Gawande is.

he's pretty much synonymous with medical writing these days.. he does NOT write for the Tennessee Geurilla Women.. great stuff
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8:40 AM
 
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