Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday: August 25, 2010


The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T.R. Reid

 

From Amazon.com: 

Washington Post correspondent Reid (The United States of Europe) explores health-care systems around the world in an effort to understand why the U.S. remains the only first world nation to refuse its citizens universal health care. Neither financial prudence nor concern for the commonweal explains the American position, according to Reid, whose findings divulge that the U.S. not only spends more money on health care than any other nation but also leaves 45 million residents uninsured, allowing about 22,000 to die from easily treatable diseases. Seeking treatment for the flareup of an old shoulder injury, he visits doctors in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan and England—with a stint in an Ayurvedic clinic in India—in a quest for treatment that dovetails with his search for a cure for America's health-care crisis, a narrative device that sometimes feels contrived, but allows him valuable firsthand experience. For all the scope of his research and his ability to mint neat rebuttals to the common American misconception that universal health care is socialized medicine, Reid neglects to address the elephant in the room: just how are we to sell these changes to the mighty providers and insurers?

The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care Although much of the furor that surrounded the health care debate earlier this year has settled down, we have yet to address many of the tough choices and decisions about health care in this country.  I think the author's approach of trying to access treatment for a shoulder injury in 6 countries is an interesting approach to this dialogue.  I had put this book onto my TBR when it first released in HB and am excited to see that is now out in paperback (Paperback releases on Aug 31, 2010)


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

5 comments:

  1. I like the sound of this one---very thought-provoking!

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  2. Omg your blog is so fricking cute! I love it. I see you read Heart of the Matter...I had that book up for discussion for my book club last month. I'll have to read what you thought of it. I didn't really care for it but oh well...

    Here is my blog. Hope you like.

    http://edlund101.blogspot.com/

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  3. This is a book I know I should read, but the whole health care debate gets my blood up too much.

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  4. Sounds like a great read. I'm a Canadian and I'm proud of our healthcare. We could always do better, but I'm aware of how well we have it.

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  5. i used to work for a soul-sucking HMO and can't even think about reading this book. i used to hate telling people where i worked. :( i know we need a new system, but i don't know what will work and HOW it could be implemented. arghhhh.

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