This is a must read for anyone interested in health care reform here in the US. As a conservative, I was challenged to think in terms of the ethical and moral dimensions of not having universal coverage in this country, and of how my self-centered attitude about health care impacts the need for and ability to get meaningful reform through Congress.

A clearly-written look at various types of health-care systems worldwide, and an expose of the false beliefs many of us hold as Americans about the efficacy of our own system. ( )

This is an excellent book showing how other counties around the world provide health care for their citizens at costs much less than what we pay in the US. Each system, including the US system, has positive and negatives. Reforming health care comes down to a basic question, as a country, does the US feel it has a moral obligation to provide health care for everybody? Once the US can answer that question, then maybe we can get on the right path to reforming what is a broken system. ( )

Wanting to sort the hype from the substance in our national debate on health care, I purchased this book. Reid carefully outlines the major types of health care offered by the nations of the world and surprise! The US uses the entire variety when we look at VA health care, medicare/medicaid/ out-of-pocket uninsured, employee benefit insurance, and Congressional perks.

Reid makes an interesting case that both the previous Clinton plan and Obama's present plan base the case on the [very real] economic incentives Americans have to change the insurance methodology--which hasn't seemed to resonate much with the American people. Probably because we are all so tired of politicians telling us and telling us stuff that turns out to be untrue (but hey! don't let my cynicism get you down :). In Europe, changes were made from a moral and ethical position that every person should be granted equal medical care.

Wow. What an idea, that even the poorest should be able to go to the doctor for preventive care.

Very well written and quite readable.

SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD IN THE USA!

Mr. Reid classifies health care systems into four categories and clearly explains how they work. He discusses important concepts that are missing from the US healthcare debate. We need to decide what we want to accomplish before deciding on the details of implementation. He explains that not all foreign systems are "socialized" (unlike the VA and Medicare) and that other countries have better outcomes in spite of spending less on healthcare than we do. He explains that the health care payment system (insurance) is not the health care provider system (doctors, nurses, etc.).

I am heartened by the fact that industrial countries have better and cheaper health care by most measures than we do in the USA because this means our system can be improved. I am disheartened because we do not have an honest, logical discussion of the pros and cons of various choices available.