Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Review: The Healing of America


For an informative and interesting explanation of health care around the world, read the transcript or listen to the recorded interview of T.R. Reid by Terry Gross in Monday's "Fresh Air."

Reid, formerly a reporter for the Washington Post, is the author of The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, published just last week. After describing health care models in various developed countries, he says that in the United States we have four models operating simultaneously: Britain, Germany, Canada, and Malawi.

The Neffs are currently enrolled in the German model, will be in the Canadian model in about four years, and hope the publishing industry remains strong enough to allow them to avoid the Malawian model in the meantime.

Reid also had an excellent article in Sunday's Washington Post: "Five Myths About Health Care Around the World." It should be required reading for every American who thinks our system is better than all the others.

P.S. (September 8): I've now read the whole book. Click here to read more about it.

2 comments:

Beth said...

Thanks, LaVonne, for directing me to Reid's article in the Washington Post! If anyone is interested in more from Reid, there is a Frontline program he did in 2008 called "Sick Around the World." The Wheaton Public Library owns the dvd. Check with your library!

Ally said...

I am a fairly new reader of your blog and enjoying it immensely.

Thank you for your recent posts on the healthcare debate. You have pointed me to some thoughtful articles. I appreciate it.

I also enjoy your book reviews. After reading of your interest in medieval mysteries, I went to the library and checked out several. I was not familiar with that genre before. Thank you for that recommendation as well.