Relocalizing Health: The Future of Health Care is Local, Open and Independent

If you want to get to the root cause of an issue, just ask, “Why?” That’s what I do every time I see employees strike, and usually the answer – no matter the industry – is, at least in part, “health care.” From the auto industry to the education systems to the healthcare industry itself, health care spending is the underlying issue. The truth is, the public sector could do more to make their health plans more affordable for all people. It could also improve outcomes in their communities if local dollars weren’t being swallowed up by, in many cases frivolous, projects like the $1 billion expansion of Massachusetts General Hospital.Understanding how we can free up health care dollars to accomplish these goals is what this book sets out to do. It walks readers through how much money is wasted on our current catastrophic health care system at the national, state, and employer levels. It further explains how we allowed that system to create subsequent public health crises. Finally, it points the way to end the current system by designing low-cost, high-quality, parent-approved Health plans. We’re spending more than enough money to get the best health care system in the world. The only real question is whether we can massively replicate what we already know works beautifully. As a country, we can easily afford to implement this model as it’s much less costly than the disaster that is our status quo health system. Changing the world starts with changing health care’s status quo, and to do that all of us must first rally together. I am counting on you to rise to the challenge to drive change. With this book as your guide, I encourage you to continue to push forward the health care revolution that’s gaining more and more momentum each and every day. Health care isn’t expensive. What is expensive is profiteering, price-gouging and edifice complexes that prioritize building Taj Mahals over disaster readiness. After all, only $0.27 of every $1 ostensibly spent on health care goes to nurses, physicians and other clinicians.