DR. DEAN ENTERS THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE

Howard Dean has worn many hats in the last several years: physician, governor, presidential candidate, chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), but now he’s coming full circle, hanging up the hats and going back to his white coat.

On July 5, Dean’s new book Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer was released.

Although the majority of Americans think of him as a politician, Dr. Dean had a long career as a family practitioner before he entered the political arena. By his own admission, Dean says he entered politics in large part to reform health care.

Under his watch as Governor of Vermont, the uninsured rate dropped from 12.7% to 9.6%. One of Dean’s most notable achievements as Governor was his expansion of the "Dr. Dynasaur" program. The program ensures near-universal health coverage for children and pregnant women and has since helped place Vermont in the top five states for best health care coverage.

According to Web sites explaining the book, Dean’s ideas don’t differ much from Obama’s with the exception that Dean is adamant that a successful plan should include a universally available public insurance option similar to the highly effective Medicare system.

Although there is much talk about “bipartisanship” agreement, Dean also stresses that President Obama and congressional Democrats should not compromise on the public option because without it the private health insurance system will have no incentive to reduce costs and eliminate ever increasing gaps in coverage.

The point of making the case for the public option, Dean says, is “to let the American people know that they should have a choice, and the choice should be up to them, not the government and not the insurance companies.” 

There is no doubt Dean played an important role in breathing new life into the Democratic Party with his 50-State Strategy and his keen ability to raise funds via the Web, but time will tell if his skills transfer in helping to solve our nation’s health care problems.

If nothing else, Dean’s entrance into the burgeoning health care debate should make things a bit more interesting.

HOWARD DEAN PITTSBURGH BOOK SIGNING 
August 14, 2009, 2:00 p.m.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Southside Works--call 412-381-3600 for more information.

COMMENTS…

Do you think Howard Dean will help or hurt the debate? Which system do you prefer—public plan or private options?