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Health, Mind & Body |
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Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis
written by Tom Daschle
Studio : Thomas Dunne Books
by Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date : 2008-02-19
Publisher : Thomas Dunne Books
Released : 2008-02-19
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780312383015
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 20 reviews)
List Price : $23.95
Our Price : $13.55
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Product Description |
A much-needed and hard-hitting plan, from one of the great Democratic minds of our time, to reform America’s broken health-care system. Undoubtedly, the biggest domestic policy issue in the coming years will be America’s health-care system. Millions of Americans go without medical care because they can’t afford it, and many others are mired in debt because they can’t pay their medical bills. It’s hard to think of another public policy problem that has lingered unaddressed for so long. Why have we failed to solve a problem that is such a high priority for so many citizens? Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle believes the problem is rooted in the complexity of the health-care issue and the power of the interest groups—doctors, hospitals, insurers, drug companies, researchers, patient advocates—that have a direct stake in it. Rather than simply pointing out the major flaws and placing blame, Daschle offers key solutions and creates a blueprint for solving the crisis. Daschle’s solution lies in the Federal Reserve Board, which has overseen the equally complicated financial system with great success. A Fed-like health board would offer a public framework within which a private health-care system can operate more effectively and efficiently—insulated from political pressure yet accountable to elected officials and the American people. Daschle argues that this independent board would create a single standard of care and exert tremendous influence on every other provider and payer, even those in the private sector. After decades of failed incremental measures, the American health-care system remains fundamentally broken and requires a comprehensive fix. With his bold and forward-looking plan, Daschle points us to the solution. |
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Tom Daschle Knows NOTHING About Healthcare |
This book is more about his self interests and promoting his career then about healthcare. He believes that our answer for healthcare is to insert a "unbiased" politically appointed board of doctors and economists between you and your doctor. There are already standards of care and government published guidelines. Having a new government entity publishing another set is redundant and not needed. Also, standards of care are to ensure that the lowest level of care is given not the highest. So with the new board they will reduce care for you to the lowest level necessary in order to save money and that everyone is the same. Those with money or good health insurance will lose benefits because he wants to punish doctors for providing above the standard level of care. He views this as wasteful and not needed.
There are numerous issues that affect the level and quality of heathcare that is given in America. His book only offers a short simplistic answer for how he wants government to grow, not for how to provide quality healthcare to American citizens. |
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The 'Federal Health Board'... A Practical Attempt at Health Care Reform. |
Tom Daschle's proposed 'Federal Health Board' would infuse paternalism into our current cost-inefficient health-care system. It stops short of regulation. Daschle is very mindful of the Clinton administration's failed attempt at reform in the '90s. He does not want to fail again. He wants to craft reform that has a chance of passage in Congress. In closing, on page 205, he says, "I have strong views on what an 'ideal' system would look like. But I'm not willing to sacrifice worthy improvements on the altar of perfection."
This is a very readable book. Some chapters are only *three* pages long. |
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Daschle Prescribes an Antidote to America's Sick Healthcare System |
Among westernized nations, America is an anomaly. We do not guarantee health care for our citizens. And we've convinced ourselves that the 'every person fend for themselves' approach is more than adequate.
But incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Daschle explains why America cannot continue pulling the wool over its eyes.
In this book, the former Senator convincingly argues that we need fundamental health care reform which provides all people with the quality of health care currently given to federal employees.
Wait; you're probably asking yourself, wasn't health care reform previously attempted? Yes, but since the early 1990's, the numbers of the uninsured have merely skyrocketed. The need for health care reform has not at all gone away.
Against the bankruptcy-inducing realities of people having to pay out of pocket for their necessary and life-saving medical procedures, the 'stressful paperwork' commercials then aired by the American Medical Association look almost comedic. To think having to write on lines of paper once scared the American voter who could now loose their home!
Aware of this and other horror stories, Daschle's plan is very pragmatic. Recognizing the U.S. medical care system as mediocre, he would overhaul Medicaid and open up the federal health insurance group policy to others.
Setting up a Federal Health Board appears to be his attempt to rid the country of the 'pre-existing' clause which hinders current treatments. And the implementation of a medical record would help doctors avoid costly and dangerous medical mistakes on a patient, further improving the quality of American medical care. Eliminating mistakes and their consequences will further lower the insurance rates for everybody, and the consequences of treating anybody's pre-existing condition.
I honestly would have liked to see more of a critique of the role which insurance agencies had played and continue to play in today's mess. The insurance industry itself is the reason why entire groups (such as people with disabilities) formally are prohibited from purchasing affordable and adequate health care even while new medicines and technologies improve our lifespan.
Unless they are federal employees, people with disabilities lack adequate health care because of who we are.
Imagine the outcry if the insurance industry attempted to bar entire categories of people because of ethnicity, gender, or religion. It should not continue because of disability either. Here Daschle misses a prime opportunity to advocate for much-needed reform.
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Daschle's Health Care Board |
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Tom Daschle gives a good review of where health care reform legislation has failed in the past half century and has a very reasoned explanation for why the US needs the equivalent of the Federal Reserve Board for 21st century health care. Recommended for all those interested in the future of the US health care system |
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dull read, but significant |
The subtitle of this book should be "How we can achieve complete federal control of health care while we fool voters into not realizing what we're doing."
Daschle spends the first three quarters of the book trying to build the case for total health care reform - it didn't take me long before I was skimming and thinking "alright, alright, I get it, so what do you want to do about it?" He finally makes it to his destination and his plans are interesting, especially since we look likely to follow them soon. However, there is one glaring flaw - I kept wondering, "how does he plan to pay for this?" and the answer is, he doesn't. He just does some hand waving, says it will all be made up in "greater efficiencies" or something and figures it will all work out. Once you take out the need to pay for something, I can probably come up with a hundred plans as good or better than this one. |
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