The Healing of America

Yesterday, I wrote an entire rant on how awful people have become to each other in terms of providing healthcare to their fellow human beings.  I then gave myself 24 hours before posting it in order to cool off and revise it.  However, this morning on my way to work I heard about the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Affordable Care Act, and a little bit of my faith in humanity returned to me.

I've never been a huge fan of "ObamaCare" (or Obama, for that matter), because I think it didn't go nearly far enough in providing healthcare for people who need it (which is all of us).  But I can appreciate that it at least got the healthcare conversation started, and it's at least a step in the right direction. 

What I can't understand is why we refuse to look at the healthcare systems around the world that are working and try to learn from them.  Our American exceptionalism keeps us from admitting that there are in fact countries in the world that do things much better than we do, and healthcare is one of them.  The best book I've read on this subject is "The Healing of America" by T.R. Reid.  It was a great look into some of the systems in other countries, and it weighs all of their pros and cons.  I sometimes think that if everyone in Congress were just forced to read this book, maybe things could change, but I know better than to hope for that.

So I guess I have mixed feelings today.  I'm happy for the gains we've made, meager as they are, but still impatient for the changes we really need that can't come soon enough for real people dealing with real illness.