Healthcare Reform: Let’s Try This Approach

Pull out each of the key items/issues [of healthcare reform bill] one piece at a time, prioritize them based on the degree of agreement, and put them to a vote as a stand alone issue.

Talk about transparency. No more thousand page documents with hidden deals. It's all there nice and clear. You agree or disagree then vote to decide, send it over to the appropriate agency to implement if it passes, and move on to the next item.

This elegant, achievable solution comes from my friend, Joan-Koerber Walker. She published it at her blog, Core Purpose: Celebrating the Entrepreneur...in all of us. The post is titled: Health Care Legislation on the Brink. Maybe it's time for ... Innovation and Change We Can Agree On

It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful in its elegance, or scientific precision, neatness.

Scientific precision and neatness are two of the qualities of elegance. And they are two of the qualities missing from our healthcare reform debate. And Joan’s solution, to itemize each issue, one piece at a time, and then debate it, then vote on it, could with... willing participants...bring greater precision to the debate.

And by debating each item, then voting on it, would allow for open and rational participation by all of us, not just lobbyists and industry representatives.

And, that’s not all her solution would do. It would create...progress. It may appear akin to baby-steps of progress to itemize each of the issues in the 1000-page bill first and then vote on each of them separately. However, progress has been lacking in trying to reform in one-year a system that’s been built over decades.

The lack of progress has only contributed to a polarizing conversation in our country that is similar to constantly picking at a scab. It never heals. And continually debating healthcare reform with no real means to bring reform only serves to allow us, as a nation, remain polarized, in conflict....divided. And we can never heal these divisions. And a house divided, much less a nation divide cannot stand.

However, by creating a system where we can bring sunshine to all the terms and issues, deals and compromises, in the healthcare reform bill, we all can participate in the real discussion, in an open and transparent manner and not only bring change we can all agree on, but bring change that begins to unite us.

Thanks, Joan!