Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary
Timothy Snyder
A quote: “America is supposed to be about freedom, but illness and fear render us less free. To be free is to become ourselves, to move through the world following our values and desires. Freedom is impossible when we are too ill to conceive of happiness and too weak to pursue it. The word freedom is hypocritical when spoken by the people who create the conditions that leave us sick and powerless. if our federal government and our commercial medicine make us unhealthy, they are making us unfree."
On December 29, 2019, historian Timothy Snyder fell gravely ill. Unable to stand, barely able to think, he waited for hours in an emergency room before being correctly diagnosed and rushed into surgery. Over the next few days, as he clung to life and the first light of a new year came through his window, he found himself reflecting on the fragility of health, not recognized in America as a human right but without which all rights and freedoms have no meaning.
And that was before the pandemic. We have since watched American hospitals, long understaffed and undersupplied, buckling under waves of coronavirus patients. The federal government made matters worse through willful ignorance, misinformation, and profiteering. Our system of commercial medicine failed the ultimate test, and thousands of Americans died.
In this eye-opening cri de coeur, Snyder traces the societal forces that led us here and outlines the lessons we must learn to survive. In examining some of the darkest moments of recent history and of his own life, Snyder finds glimmers of hope and principles that could lead us out of our current malaise. Only by enshrining healthcare as a human right, elevating the authority of doctors and medical knowledge, and planning for our children's future can we create an America where everyone is truly free.
The Great American Healthcare Scam: How Kickbacks, Collusion and Propaganda Have Exploded Healthcare Costs in the United States
David Belk MD, Paul Belk PhD
The purpose of this book is to effectively untangle and expose nearly all of the deceptions that occur in medical billing, prescription drug pricing and the health insurance industry in the U.S. Throughout the book Dr. Belk uses actual medical bills and receipts along with data he has obtained from financial disclosures of hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and government databases to back up each and every claim he makes.
Dr. Belk says, "I guarantee this book will make your head spin because, as bad as you think our healthcare system is, it's actually far worse and this book will show exactly why and how that's the case. Also, even though many people think they know what the health insurance companies are attempting to do, they're probably wrong."
Common Sense: Medicare for all
Foundation of a “New Normal” in US Health Care
John Geyman, MD
Thomas Paine made a strong case in his pamphlet, Common Sense, for people in the Thirteen Colonies to gain independence from England in 1775-1776. This pamphlet is also based on simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense. In the final months of this pivotal 2020 election season, America is facing three major challenges at the same time—the coronavirus pandemic, a resultant economic downturn on the scale of the 1930s, and widespread protests against ongoing systemic racism. Together, they have exposed the underbelly of a failing health care non-system which serves the interests of corporate America, Wall Street, and their investors on the backs of sick and vulnerable Americans.
The Case for A Common Sense Universal Health System
John Marty
In this new book, Minnesota Senator John Marty provides the most complete, well-researched, thoroughly documented proposal for universal health care; a blueprint not only for Minnesota but for people across the country who are eager to create a health care system that works.
People who read this short book cover-to-cover will come away with a fundamentally different understanding of our health care crisis, and a belief that we really can fix our health care system.
Senator Marty begins by spelling out principles we should expect our health care system to follow, then lays out a commonsense plan to meet those principles. Using Minnesota legislation as a model, he articulates a plan that covers all people for all of their medical needs in an accountable, comprehensible, fair, and affordable manner.
Marty cuts through and critiques layers of “reforms,” from the Nixon era to the Obama administration, that led to the bureaucratic nightmare that causes Americans to pay almost twice as much as other nations, with worse coverage and poor health outcomes. Our health care system is so dysfunctional, one business executive quipped, “If you tried to design a health care system that doesn’t work, you couldn’t have done a better job.”
Marty challenges the timidity of progressive politics: “If twenty-first century progressives had been leading the nineteenth century abolition movement, we would still have slavery, but we would have limited slavery to a 40-hour work week, and we would be congratulating each other on the progress we had made.”
As a long-time state senator, he argues that politicians retreated from a “politics of principle” to a misguided “politics of pragmatism,” which led President Obama to fight for, and pass a “universal” health care system that isn’t universal.
Marty points out that the United States squanders outstanding health care resources—excellent providers, clinics and hospitals, medical research and technology—on a broken system that makes it difficult and expensive for many people to get the care they need. He asks, “why would any society make it difficult for its people to access health care?”
Senator Marty concludes, “It’s time to develop the political will to build a system that gives health care to all instead of health insurance to some.”
Fix It: Health Care at the Tipping Point (40 minutes)
Produced by Richard Master, founder of Business for Medicare for All
The “classic”, the first that many in this movement saw….It discusses the journey of one American business to understand the US healthcare system and to demand that we "fix it". Produced by Richard Master, who founded Business for Medicare for All. It describes why business and businesses should need and want healthcare reform.
Now is the time: Healthcare for everybody
The powerful movie shows core problems with the US healthcare “system” and the obstacles to change. Interviews with key players and archival video from Senate ACA hearings and Vermont single-payer efforts are gripping, the graphics are helpful, and the filmmakers’ first person healthcare disaster stories ground the film in 2016 realities.
This is a 70 minute movie that must be rented.
One viewer said, “It underscored the disgraceful posture and behavior of Obama and the Democrats surrounding the enactment of the ACA, a law that leaves many uninsured or grossly underinsured, nicely demonstrating the moral bankruptcy at the law's core inasmuch as the law was largely shaped by the health insurance industry, which continues to game the system to avoid paying for needed care.’”
Another commented, “Now I get it- costs skyrocket because our system is profit-driven, so mega-merging institutions (like Mass General Hospital) raise prices, big Pharma is unrestrained, and insurance companies keep profits up through government collusion with network-narrowing, lemon-dropping and cherry-picking!”
Health Care: We Can Fix It. (12 minutes)
This YouTube video compares Sweden and Seattle's healthcare. We could easily substitute Maine for Washington State.
Ever wonder how our health care system stacks up to other leading nations? Americans live with more stress, expense and financial risk while a tried-and-tested solution lies close at hand. It's time to fix this. Find out what ties together Chile, Mexico, Turkey and the United States among industrialized nations.
Big Pharma: Market Failure (51 minutes)
Big Pharma: Market Failure explores the problem of extreme drug prices in the US and how drug cost impacts on the public, on businesses and the overall US economy.
This documentary makes an effective business case for realizable change. It digs deep to answer key questions. How much do pharma companies really spend on research and development of truly innovative drugs? Do "free market" principles impact on drug prices and help control cost? Do the normal rules of business apply to the pharma industry? How do TV ads impact consumers and doctors?
Can we create a solution that makes business sense for employers and health sense for employees? It is a compelling drama that reveals the truth of pharma cost and what we can do about it.
The Healthcare Movie:
Many people in Maine have lived in other countries where healthcare is universal. In this video they share some of those experiences. The contrast to our own experience here is stark. No one with such an experience prefers the United States "system". Certainly we can learn from their experiences. This is available on its facebook page, which gives instructions for a fee code, or you can rent it.
Big Money Agenda: Democracy on the Brink (45 minutes)
Produced by Richard Master, founder of Business for Medicare for All
This powerful movie shows core problems with the US healthcare “system” and the obstacles to change. Interviews with key players and archival video from Senate ACA hearings and Vermont single-payer efforts are gripping, the graphics are helpful, and the filmmakers’ first person healthcare disaster stories ground the film in 2016 realities.
One viewer said, “It underscored the disgraceful posture and behavior of Obama and the Democrats surrounding the enactment of the ACA, a law that leaves many uninsured or grossly underinsured, nicely demonstrating the moral bankruptcy at the law's core inasmuch as the law was largely shaped by the health insurance industry, which continues to game the system to avoid paying for needed care.’”
Another commented, “Now I get it- costs skyrocket because our system is profit-driven, so mega-merging institutions (like Mass General Hospital) raise prices, big Pharma is unrestrained, and insurance companies keep profits up through government collusion with network-narrowing, lemon-dropping and cherry-picking!”