HEALTHCARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

A veteran physician provides a plan to revamp the country’s current state of medical care.

In Paguyo’s (Better Than ObamaCare, 2013) enterprising book, he considers American health care to be advanced and reliable, yet also “expensive, full of faults, wasteful” and “a total failure in providing healthcare for all Americans.” His complex proposal for change drills down to the core of the problems plaguing the system and offers an array of comprehensive solutions. These fixes, he asserts, should restore a sense of balance and accessibility to the country’s health care delivery system. The author maintains that the 2010 Affordable Care Act fails to properly address health care’s major issues and has made it “worse and more expensive.” He outlines (and endorses) a unique prototype with a list of guidelines and principles, such as program simplicity for the average consumer and a governmental medical “superfund” that would pool federal money for disbursement at the state level. The volume also clearly defines the functionality of each initiative as well as depicting how Paguyo’s health care plan would be funded from various government entities and who would oversee the official operation of its financial implementation and management. While it’s obvious the author has carefully analyzed his plan’s development, strategy, and delivery protocol, he is less effective in systematically describing how his revolutionary program would function within the current political and social environments and how his changes would be enacted. While Paguyo’s propositions are certainly daring and provocative, not all of them seem reasonable. His risky proposal for a state-by-state, two-stage bidding process becomes buried beneath an array of cumbersome requirements. In terms of comparative evaluations, the author cleverly presents an overview of already established national health care systems—such as those in Britain, Canada, France, Japan, and Switzerland—and how they’ve fared in effectiveness, durability, and popularity over time. Paguyo also contributes historical data on the vast evolution of U.S. medical care post-World War II. While the author’s ultimate vision is lucid and workable, his solutions become muddied when applied to the current state of health care: a lucrative, serpentine industry influenced by political and economic manipulation, congressional roadblocks, and lopsided patient care standards. Still, the author’s dogged efforts and passion are honorable and represent a physician who is truly motivated to improve how medical care is delivered in America.

A well-researched, intelligent, and boldly alternative approach to health care reform.