A Little Progress

The report from the Health Reform Dialogue, a collection of groups usually at odds over health care, is a small step in the right direction. Consumers, insurers, doctors, employers and others reached a broad agreement the may act as a starting point for the reform process.

One critical point that I'd like to highlight was their recommendation that the priority of America's health care system be changed. In fact, they want it totally reversed. Over the last few decades the health care system has figured out it's much more profitable to treat sick people than to keep them healthy and prevent illness and disease. Great for them, bad for us. It's one of the major reasons that America spends more on health care than any other nation on earth, more than twice as much as many other industrialized countries. The report now calls for prevention to become the foundation for medical care.

It's a small step, but at least it's a start.