Atul Gawande is a highly respected physician who has a well deserved reputation as a gifted writer. This commentary should not be construed as an attack on him; rather, it is an attack on his message. On his writing skills I give him an A, but on his content, a D-.

Jonathan Oberlander is one of the nation’s more astute observers of the politics of health care reform. After a long dry spell of pessimism, he is finally able to justify a very cautious note of optimism, though it still risks being a fleeting message. The most reassuring component of his message is that Congressional Democrats, especially Sen. Baucus and Sen. Kennedy, are rapidly moving forward with comprehensive reform in a process designed to prevent as much as possible the errors of the past.

The Commonwealth Fund is joining the chorus of those who say that we should look to the Swiss and Dutch systems as potential models for universal coverage in the United States. What is meant by universal coverage? It means that everyone is covered (except for the one percent or so who are not, and the one and one-half percent who have been suspended for failure to pay their premiums).

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

As we reflect today on Martin Luther King’s gift to the nation, and on tomorrow’s historic inauguration, it seems fitting to look back at the vote that brought us Medicare. This was a vote for health care justice for our seniors, and a first step towards the dream, shared by Martin Luther King Jr then and Barack Obama now, of health care justice for all of us.

There are no real surprises in this new poll on the public’s attitude toward health care reform. Most do believe that we are in a window of opportunity for reform based on the fact that the public ranks health care reform as one of the top priorities for President-elect Obama and Congress. But the feasibility of comprehensive reform comes into question when noting that 62 percent of Republicans believe that the nation cannot afford to take on health reform now, and only 23 percent of them believe that reform is even a priority.

The lobby organizations, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), have been amongst the most visible targets of those of us who have been fighting for comprehensive reform that would best meet the health care needs of all of us.

RAND COMPARE provides both a valuable information resource on U.S. health care today, and an interactive tool that can be used to evaluate the impact of various policy options under different models of reform. It has now been released for public use.

The administrative waste of private insurers along with the excessive administrative burden they place on the health care delivery system alone is more than enough to warrant dismissing them as stewards of our health care dollars. A more fundamental moral reason to dismiss them is that they place service to patients in a secondary position to their efforts to achieve business success, frequently using dishonest deception to do so.

Families USA has continued to be a source of highly credible studies demonstrating the severe deficiencies in health care financing in the United States. A prime example is this study of COBRA benefits. Although the intent of COBRA was to allow individuals and families to maintain their employer-sponsored coverage after losing their jobs, this study demonstrates that this is yet another failed policy as unemployed individuals are unable to pay for that coverage.