My Solution to the U. S. Health Care Problem

Nicholas Kristof's article in today's NYTimes, which I thought was fair and informed, provoked in me an insight that I believe could and should revolutionize the current health care debate. In short, the problem with the current debate is that it is taking place in the wrong sector of society. Politics are not the place!

My proposal:

1. Table the whole notion of a "health care bill" and appoint (and fund!) a commission of qualified professionals to conduct a thorough study of the current U. S. health care system and the top health care systems around the world.
2. Publish this proposal in detailed form as well as a general-public-friendly format, so that both the voting public and the elected officials are informed of the results.
3. Form a bipartisan congressional commission to analyze the results of the study in terms of public policy and submit a proposal to the American people and to Congress.
4. Do this over a period of time sufficient for the nature of the study.

Now, I am not a politician or a public policy analyst or a medical researcher. But I do know that modern-day American politics, controlled as they are by money and media spin, are not the place for such an enormous matter as this one. Both sides of the debate need to recognize this and to get on the same side of a solution to a problem of which all of us are painfully aware.