Tom Murray, president of The Hastings Center, discussed how and why health reform should reflect our values in an interview on NPR’s Science Friday.

Above all values, Americans prize freedom—the right of individuals to control all aspects of their lives, including the personal and the economic. In many ways, both major political parties embrace individual freedom, with Democrats stressing personal freedom and Republicans economic liberty. What is often absent in political discourse around freedom, however, is the common good and an appreciation of when rigid adherence to individualism is inimical to collective welfare.

The atmosphere was tense. Representatives of the insurance industry were huddled in one corner. The other members of the Task Force on Genetic Information and Insurance, mostly academics and consumer representatives, were bunched across the room. As chair of the task force, I was in the middle, trying to make sense of the disagreement, which was growing more intense by the minute.