The (Virtual) Fiscal Wake-Up Tour on Health Care Reform
September 12th, 2009 . by economistmomAt the Concord Coalition we’re trying to spread our word more efficiently lately using video technology. Here’s an example–this set of video clips of the “first string” “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour” team (my boss Bob Bixby, the Peterson Foundation’s Dave Walker, the Heritage Foundation’s Stuart Butler, and the Brookings Institution’s Belle Sawhill) talking about health care reform.
I myself will soon venture into video blogging; I’ve recently been invited by Thomson-Reuters to be a “vlogger” on their new “Project Insider” internet video network, where I’ll eventually have my own “channel”. (How cool is that?!) Stay tuned; I’ll be soliciting ideas…although it’s probably going to take a few months for me to get up to speed. (I don’t even have my own video camera yet–apart from the one that I think is built into my laptop but which I’ve never used…)
Diane,
Good to see these video initiatives.
Side-question: How would you describe Brookings ideologically in general, and in particular on the issue of fiscal policy and of how to address our long-term fiscal imbalance? (Progressive/liberal? Center-left? centrist?) Same question for Ms. Sawhill in particular.
At the Concord Coalition we’re trying to spread our word more efficiently lately using video technology.
Those are some good video clips. I thought that the one by David Walker was especially interesting. He states that we “must engage in comprehensive health care reform based on four key dimensions: coverage, cost, quality, and personal responsibility”. On cost, he says the following:
Yes, we must have a limit on how much the federal government will spend on health care. We are the only major industrialized nation that doesn’t have one today.
That statement surprised me a bit but I believe it to be true. It would seem fairly easy to put a limit on spending under a system where public health care was provide by government-run hospitals. The government would simply obtain the number of hospitals and hire the number of doctors that it could afford and that were thought to be sufficient to provide the care. The hospitals and/or doctors would then prioritize their patients and treatments, much as what occurs in an emergency room. Setting limits under other health care systems might be a bit different but has apparently been achieved by other industrialized countries. However, many in the U.S. seem to feel that, if a million dollar treatment can provide an extra day of life for a patient and if that patient feels that the extra day is worth that million dollars, then the taxpayer should be obliged to provide it. Setting limits can be very difficult. But I believe that David Walker is right that we are the one major industrialized nation that has not done so.
Regarding personal responsibility, Walker says that we “need to have better diet and nutrition and we need to exercise more”. I likewise found this interesting in that it seems like nutrition has been receiving somewhat more attention recently. I did ask my primary physician once about whether my plan covers an appointment with a nutritionist and found that it doesn’t. I was not looking for ongoing treatment, just a single appointment. In any event, it would seem that it would be helpful to find some way to provide some sort of nutritional guidance to the public at large that has some acceptance in the majority of the medical community. Currently, most patients seem to be left to figure this out for themselves.
I myself will soon venture into video blogging; I’ve recently been invited by Thomson-Reuters to be a “vlogger” on their new “Project Insider” internet video network, where I’ll eventually have my own “channel”. (How cool is that?!) Stay tuned; I’ll be soliciting ideas…
That does sound very cool! Congratulations! Regarding ideas, there is one that occurred to me watching the other video clips. It would be nice if transcripts were provided. The videos are very good for hearing the initial arguments. However, a transcript would be nice for going back and rechecking exactly what was said for further thought and use in discussions.
B Davis: the Thomson-Reuters video network will automatically generate transcripts of all vlog posts; it is pretty amazing, the technology they have in place. I just have to dive in!
Diane: It does sound pretty amazing since I assume that they’re generating the transcripts via speech recognition software. Anyhow, make sure to let us know when you dive in!
Jason, the answer to your question is at:
http://rodgermmitchell.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/searching-for-flaws-in-the-hypothesis/