Malcolm Gladwell and Healthcare

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses Malcolm Gladwell's assertions that the current American health care system is exacerbating the suffering of millions, that the moral hazard theory is erroneous and actually costing America money, and the "actuarial approach" favored by American policy-makers is lagging behind the "social insurance" approach adopted elsewhere. The paper is of the opinion that Gladwell's arguments against the present American health care system are lucid, compelling and relentlessly logical. The paper maintains that until America adopts the same sort of social insurance approach employed elsewhere, it will continue to find itself with an unhealthy population as well as a cumbersome and expensive medical system.

From the Paper:

"The first of the three major claims advanced by Malcolm Gladwell is that the American health insurance system, because it demands people pay for their own health care, is not reducing inefficiencies in the system as much as it is exacerbating the suffering of millions of Americans. Indeed, many of these men and women owe money to collection agencies and many more of them are grappling with personal bankruptcy. More tragically, children who are born into poor homes are far more likely to not receive serious medical attention for serious maladies (such as infections) and those with lung cancer who happen to be poor can (usually) forget about chemotherapy just as those who have heart problems but are too poor for insurance can forget about angioplasty (Gladwell, sec.1). For all intents and purposes, the "system" is driving tens of millions of Americans towards an early grave or into insurmountable financial difficulty - and it is hard to see where Gladwell's argument is anything less than convincing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, Gerard F., Peter S. Hussey, Bianca K. Frogner, and Hugh R. Waters. "Health Spending in the United States and the Rest of the Industrialized World." Health Affairs, 24.4 (2005): 903-914.
• Gladwell, Malcolm. "The Moral Hazard Myth." Articles from the New Yorker. 29 Aug. 2005. Gladwell.com. 17 Oct. 2006 <http://www.gladwell.com/2005/2005_08_29_a_hazard.html>

More papers on Malcolm Gladwell and Healthcare:

• Article Review # 130034 : "Gladwell on US Health Care"
• Book Review # 92632 : "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell"
• Book Review # 98840 : "Malcolm Gladwell's "Little Things Can Make a Big Difference"

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