Rescuing our Bankrupt Health Care System: Looking for answers around the world

Posted by on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 in Civility: And Justice for Whom?, Events.

Friday, November 13
Student Life Center’s Board of Trust Meeting Room
11 AM – Lecture – T.R. Reid

Did you know that in 2007 it was estimated that nearly 60% of all bankruptcies in America were a result of medical bills? In contrast, The United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland did not report a single bankruptcy connected to medical care costs.

T.R. Reid acknowledges this statistic and many others when investigating foreign health care systems for an answer to American Health Care Reform. In his most resent book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care, Reid uncovers the popularized myth that universal coverage must be achieved through “socialized medicine”. Reid looks to fellow affluent, free market democracies that successfully (according to public surveys) provide health care coverage to all. Moreover, Reid discovers during his research that other countries consider health care to be an essential human right. These and many other issues will be discussed during his upcoming talk.

T.R. Reid is a reporter for the Washington Post, a frequent contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, host of the popular documentary Sick Around the World, and a bestselling author. After attending Princeton University, Reid served as a naval officer before becoming a journalist and correspondent.

Sick Around the World: “A Just Health Care System”

Wednesday, November 11
Sarratt Cinema
5:30-7:30pm

5:30-6:30pm there will be a viewing of the Frontline documentary Sick Around the World. This film, hosted by T.R. Reid, chronicles four countries who have adopted universal health care coverage and unveils how they successfully accomplish the seemingly impossible.

6:30-7:30pm Panelists Ellen Clayton, Sten Vermund, Rep. Jim Cooper, and Michael Burcaham will take on the issue of Justice in the Health Care debate. Is Health Care a human right? How should the legislative process mediate ethics surrounding this issue? (Moderator: Scott Hagen)