A PRESCRIPTION FOR 2008

Whoever becomes our 44th president will have to put health reform right at the top of his-or her-agenda. The question is not whether there will be reform-the question is what direction it will take. Already now, in early 2007, we can see the contours of two very distinctly different ideas of how to reform our health care system. On the Democratic side, Senators Clinton and Obama, and former senator John Edwards, are all in favor of national, single payer health insurance. On the Republican side, Governor Mitt Romney has a strong record of health reform. He was instrumental in putting together an interesting market-based health reform in Massachusetts. Is his model strong enough to be a credible alternative to a universal, single payer system? This book discusses the two main alternatives and points to weaknesses in the single payer model