Proving the Skeptics Wrong: Why Major Health Reform Can Happen despite the Odds

Abstract

It comes as no surprise that, for the first time in nearly 15 years, a serious debate has emerged about the need to ensure quality, affordable coverage for all Americans. The statistics and stories about cost, coverage, and quality shortcomings abound and are indisputable. Setting the human consequences aside, the economic, budgetary competitiveness and demographic challenges facing the nation demand pragmatic and comprehensive reform. As health care costs (and cost-shifting from the uninsured) weigh down businesses and workers alike as well as federal, state, and local governments, stakeholders and forward-looking policymakers have started the drum-beat of reform — to the relief of most Americans.