April 13, 2007

"Yes" to Health Care Reform

We're always hearing about "the best is the enemy of the good." Or "half a loaf is better than nothing." Especially in politics. Which it's true that most of life is made up of compromises, but not all. "Compromise" is not carved in stone — sometimes half a loaf isn't better than nothing and sometimes to get something even approximately right you've got to scrap what you've got. The health care system in the U.S. is exactly that way. But we need not fear experimenting in the dark: plenty of other countries (including all our peers) have gotten this one right. To my mind health care is a bleeding edge issue, perhaps the first in line, the most likely to succeed, in a progressive political realignment. Thus I was absolutely thrilled to talk with somebody who knows everything there is to know about health care, Dr. David Himmelstein, co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. Well, maybe not everything, but David knows a heck of a lot. His is the clearest exposition of what's behind health care policy I've ever heard. It was a great pleasure talking with David and I think this is one of the most important shows I've done. I hope you agree. Total runtime here of an hour and twenty two minutes. Enjoy!