First Little Book New Voice of Health Reform is Out

We seem always to learn the balance the material wonders of technology with the spiritual demands of our human nature.

John Naisbitt (born 1929), Mindset! (Collins, 2006)

November 13, 2012 -  My first little book on health reform,  Physicians, Poetry, and Humor;  is out.   The book is part of a series of a dozen or so little books, which will appear under the umbrella title,  New Voice of Health Reform: The 3 Rs: Rhyme, Rhetoric & Reality. Each book will be a collection of blogs written over the last five years on a specific subject relating to health reform.   

You may order this first little paperback book of 170 pages with your credit card through the link – http://netondemandbooks.com/odb/selfespress/odb0000001090.    The cost of the book is $12.95.  It also may be purchased at 49 major independent bookstores around the U.S. and 81 worldwide who have Espresso Book Machines.

You may ask, why a book on physician poetry and humor as the introduction to a deadly serious subject like health reform?

It’s a good question.

Here is my answer.

I want to show readers physicians are human – with a poetic, humorous, even a spiritual side.   Yes, we are a technological and scientific profession, but we are also emphatic and compassionate.  That is called the Art of Medicine.  We are interested in patients as human beings.  We do not believe all patient problems lend themselves to big data, algorithmic formulas,  protocol-driven, or evidence-based solutions.  We believe patients deserve choices of high tech/high touch solutions.

In this,  my first little book,  I seek to highlight these choices through light verse and humorous stories.  In each of these approaches,  I have a point to make, and I seek to make it  without rancor.

In general, I think of Obamacare as deeply flawed. It lacks balance between government control and regulations versus  market competition and innovation.  It is too expensive at $2.6 trillion and fosters a sweeping, bureaucratic, social welfare state, which we as a nation can ill afford.  Obamacare’s uncertainties and expenses discourage hiring and economic growth. Moreover, it is  politically unpopular because it does not fit even violates America’s free enterprise culture.

At the same time,  Obamacare  has positive features – coverage of young people under their parents’ policies and for those with pre-existing illness and protecting seniors who fall into the doughnut hole because of high prescription drug costs. 

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