I’m very much looking forward to Wednesday, March 28th at 10am, when I will be a guest on the acclaimed NPR program Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. The show is timed to follow this week’s testimony in the US Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of health reform (known as the Affordable Care Act), particularly the individual mandate to purchase health insurance. Joining me will be the constitutional scholar Professor Theodore Ruger from the University of Pennsylvania and one of the nation's top political reporters, Dick Polman.
Although I don’t have the expertise to comment as to the constitutionality of the individual mandate, without it we cannot cover an additional 32 million Americans who do not currently have health insurance – it is really that simple. Also, the conversation about the mandate just obfuscates the real issues – we need to rationalize the approach to medical care by paying for value, not volume, reduce medical error and coordinate care. Most importantly, we need to practice population health by engaging in more preventive care and create incentives to change unhealthy behaviors. It promises to be an interesting dialogue…I hope you will have an opportunity to listen, and perhaps call in to share your views.
DAVID NASH
