

Atul Gawande: University of Chicago Medical School Commencement Address - absconditus
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2009/06/atul-gawande-university-of-chicago-medical-school-commencement-address.html

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timf
Fighting this problem from the doctor's side is noble (this is an uplifting
speech) but it seems like it would only ever be drops in the bucket,
impossible to get the majority of people to voluntarily act like the speaker's
"positive deviants."

Most things I read say that the private insurance market can be disrupted by
the introduction of a big enough non-profit offering insurance (be it
government backed or not). It looks like it might even happen given the signs
from Washington recently. And I have no moral problem with the government
offering an insurance plan as long as it is voluntary to participate and the
lion's share is paid for by its participants.

Sounds like there is a chance of something good happening but I fear the
perversions. Like a lot of the government's food and health policies, this is
going to get severely messed up, yet again bowing to powerful lobbies etc.
instead of focusing on real public health goals like... health.

~~~
hugs
Regarding the "drops in the bucket" -- Yes, you're right, but that's besides
the point. Social change has to start somewhere. This reminds me of the "Day
the Pain Died" article posted here the other day.
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=647058>) The last line in that article
is key: "The real milestone witnessed in Boston that day was the moment when
culture had finally caught up with chemistry."

Independent of what Obama decides to do about health care, the American
medical community needs a cultural "attitude adjustment" to start thinking
about the macro-economic effects of their behavior.

