Health care reform is the key problem we need to solve or we’ll be losing ground to other countries as globalization continues. That’s the crux of T. R. Reid’s argument in The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. Reid suggests several approaches to managing health care based on models from France, the UK, Germany, Japan, and Canada. If you’re interested in health care reform, The Healing of America is required reading. You may think you know a lot about health care, but Reid’s book brings new facts to the table. I’ve read T. R. Reid’s previous book, The United States of Europe, and found that book just as compelling as The Healing of America. Reid is a Washington Post correspondent who specializes in breaking down complex topics and making them intelligible. He succeeds brilliantly in this latest book. GRADE: A
Sounds pretty interesting. One thing that’s been bothering me is the selling of America on medications by the big drug companies. Seems like every 3rd ad you see on television these days os for some drug or other. “My Bent Elbow Syndrome kept me from living the life I wanted until my doctor prescribed Blitherdon. Now I can play with my grandchildren and wash the car again! Ask YOUR doctor about Blitherdon right away!” That sort of rubbish. The pharmaceutical companies are rolling in profits – even more than the oil companies – and they sell, sell, sell to an aging America.
T. R. Reid addresses the aggressive marketing of medications in The Healing of America, Rick. As the system is presently constituted, we can expect more of this. That’s why change is necessary.