Book by Tom Daschle

Summary

A bold, practical fix for our broken health-care system.

Undoubtedly, the biggest domestic policy issue in the coming years will be America�s health-care system. Millions of Americans go without medical care because they can�t afford it, and many others are mired in debt because they can�t pay their medical bills. It�s hard to think of another public policy problem that has lingered unaddressed for so long. Why have we failed to solve a problem that is such a high priority for so many citizens?

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle believes the problem is rooted in the complexity of the health-care issue and the power of the interest groups�doctors, hospitals, insurers, drug companies, researchers, patient advocates�that have a direct stake in it. Rather than simply pointing out the major flaws and placing blame, Daschle offers key solutions and creates a blueprint for solving the crisis.

Daschle�s solution lies in the Federal Reserve Board, which has overseen the equally complicated financial system with great success. A Fed-like health board would offer a public framework within which a private health-care system can operate more effectively and efficiently�insulated from political pressure yet accountable to elected officials and the American people. Daschle argues that this independent board would create a single standard of care and exert tremendous influence on every other provider and payer, even those in the private sector.

After decades of failed incremental measures, the American health-care system remains fundamentally broken and requires a comprehensive fix. With his bold and forward-looking plan, Daschle points us to the solution.

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Excerpt: Critical: What We Can Do About The Health-Care Crisis

Note: On December 11, 2008 President-elect Barack Obama presented Daschle as his choice to become secretary of health and human services and to lead efforts to secure �affordable, accessible health care for every single American.�

The following is excerpted from Critical: What We Can Do About The Health-Care Crisis by Senator Tom Daschle with Scott S. Greenberger and Jeanne M Lambrew.

Before exploring my idea in detail, it�s worthwhile to review the current state of affairs. By almost any measure, the situation is grim. We like to boast that we have the highest standard of living in the world, and yet at the dawn of the twenty-first century, we are the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee necessary health care to all of its citizens. It is stunning and shameful. There are about 47 million Americans without health insurance, and researchers have estimated that about four-fifths of them are either employed or members of a family with an employed adult. An additional 16 million people are �underinsured,� or have coverage that would not protect them from catastrophic medical expenses. Simply put, an increasing number of Americans lack health insurance because they�and their employers�just can�t afford it.

Only 65 percent of people earning less than $10 an hour are offered health insurance at work. Furthermore, as health-care costs have exploded, many employers who offer coverage have reduced the portion of the premiums they cover. As a result, many working people can�t afford coverage even when it is made available to them. Other firms are eliminating coverage for prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, and care of dependents. And it isn�t just low-wage workers or the unemployed who are indanger: Statistics show that more middle-class people�families with annual incomes of $50,000 or more�are joining the ranks of the uninsured. Today, 18 million of the roughly 47 million people without insurance have family ... continue reading >

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Editorial Reviews

Review: Critical (Senator Barack Obama)

The American health-care system is in crisis, and workable solutions have been blocked for years by deeply entrenched ideological divisions. Sen. Daschle brings fresh thinking to this problem, and his Federal Reserve for Health concept holds great promise for bridging this intellectual chasm and, at long last, giving this nation the health care it deserves.

Review: Critical (Library Journal)

Several recent books�e.g., Arnold Relman's A Second Opinion and Laurence Kotlikoff's The Healthcare Fix�have proposed various ways to reform America's ailing health-care system. This easy-to-read, straightforward book by former U.S. senator Daschle ranks as one of the best. With decades of experience on Capitol Hill, Daschle clearly knows the politics of health care�he crafted numerous pieces of health-care legislation and worked with President Clinton to develop a national health-care program. Here, Daschle describes the various problems of the present system, before going on to discuss the many failed attempts by different presidents to reform the system. He proposes the creation of a Federal Health Board, modeled loosely on the Federal Reserve System, which would develop standards of care and evaluate the efficacy and overall benefits of new drugs and medical technologies compared to those in current use. The board would also regulate all health-care organizations and providers receiving federal funds. Daschle believes such a board would make complex medical decisions and resist political pressure from special-interest groups. His proposal appears to be realistic and politically feasible. Highly recommended for all academic and public libraries.

Member Reviews

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Dallowaym	Posted on Jun 15, 2008 7:32 PM
Makes cents Hillary tried to conquer this beast. I hope she still can, somehow. This is a great start--the author is an expert, and his views must be read and understood and incorporated into the solution. Barack-- take a memo-- do it! We can.
MariaATL	Posted on Jun 14, 2008 5:10 PM
informative book on critical issue I have always been a bit behind the curve when it comes to fully understanding the health care crisis? this book was highly informative ? and has a very interesting section on the history of health care reform in the US. If you want to get up to speed on this issue as I did this is definitely the place to start
Page 1

Biography

Tom Daschle is a former U.S. Senator and Senate majority leader from South Dakota. He is currently a special policy advisor at the law firm Alston & Bird LLP, a visiting professor at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Author Interview

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Interview with Tom Daschle (KaiserNetwork.Org)

Q. The big idea in your book is the creation of a Federal Reserve Board type organization that would create and maintain a health care system for the country. How would it work?

A. Well it would work much like the Federal Reserve Board does today. It�s not� the Federal Reserve board is not the manager of our federal system. What it is� is the executor, the decision maker, the policy setting framework within which most of the managerial decisions are ultimately made. We�ve seen with the crisis over the last couple of weeks in our financial markets just what an incredible role that they play. We need the same kind of autonomy� the same kind of political insulation, the same kind of expertise when it comes to health care because unlike the popular perception, we don�t have just a private system in our country. We have a public private system. Forty-five percent of people in this country today get their health care from a government program, 55 percent from the public sector and so I really should say from the private sector. So you have to have better integration of that than we have today. That�s what the Federal Reserve Board does� integrating our public private systems within banking. I believe that�s what a federal health board could do with our health care system.... (Read the full interview.)

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