http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org The Values and Health Reform Connection is an open conversation, a group blog, and a nonpartisan effort to spark a rich discourse on fundamental values in health reform. It is hosted by the Hastings Center, with Health Affairs as media sponsor. Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:12:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I write this from the perspective of a hospital chaplain. First, a little background. For the past 40+ years I have been a chaplain at varying times in a city hospital, a community mental health center, an academic medical center, a community not for profit hospital setting. I have seen ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/12/21/improved-health-care-for-all-a-hospital-chaplains-perspective/ 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 on November 6. “We wanted to start a conversation that takes a deeper look at values underlying health care and health reform,” he said. Murray made ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/11/16/values-on-nprs-talk-of-the-nation-science-friday/ The following was delivered as a speech to the Freedom Fest in Kansas City, MO on September 5 2009. Why is it important to talk about health care at a rally for freedom? Well, about 100 years ago, the government said it would ensure high-quality doctors. What they did was take away ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/11/06/why-freedom-is-the-key-to-health-care-reform/ This is the second part of Paul Kelleher's two-part submission.  The first part can be found here. In a previous post, I used Paul Menzel’s provocative contribution to the Hastings Center’s Values and Health Reform Connection as a touchstone for getting clearer on what implication the values of fairness and equality ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/11/06/justice-and-fairness-in-health-care-a-useful-direction/ In “Justice and Fairness: Mandating Universal Participation,” Paul Menzel grounds his endorsement of government-assured universal access to basic health care in a ideal of “just sharing” between fellow citizens. At the same time, Menzel calls unfair the current arrangement that shifts the costs of unpaid emergency care provided to “those ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/10/28/justice-and-fairness-in-health-care-comments-on-menzel/ As Americans, we value a health care system where people are treated fairly. We expect that if we work hard and pay our taxes, we’ll have access to that most basic human right — getting care when we need it. But for millions of people in this country who work ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/10/26/with-liberty-and-justice-a-health-care-system-for-all-americans/ What, if anything, is there to recommend current health reform efforts to an advocate of universal, single-payer coverage? Assume, for the moment, that you support the adoption of universal, single-payer coverage in the United States. Let us say that you believe that everyone has a right to a decent and ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/10/21/current-major-reform-proposals-and-the-single-payer-advocate/ So often the political debate in America revolves around two seemingly conflicting values: solidarity and subsidiarity.  William Sage touched on the former.  Opponents of health care reform often talk about the latter.  But it is the intersection of these two values that matters most to American politics, and nowhere more so than ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/10/16/subsidiarity-and-solidarity-in-health-care-reform/ The health reform debate, like so many debates in ethics and policy related to health care, tends to assume that the representative “health care professional” is a physician.  For many months, American have heard how the various reform proposals would affect physician’s autonomy, practice, income, terms of employment, and so ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/10/12/professional-integrity-dont-forget-the-nurses/ "One could make a good case that improvements in education and job creation could be a better use of limited funds than better medical care." -- Daniel Callahan, "Medical Progress: Unintended Consequences" The president emeritus of the Hastings Center opens his insightful essay with the observation that the American people's faith ... http://valuesconnection.thehastingscenter.org/2009/10/09/misplaced-faith-the-real-causes-of-ill-health/