Nurse is a sucker for comics (you read my other blog, nursosaurus, right?). Nurse is also a sucker for health reform (it’s a BFD).
Nurse knows: it's a BFD.
So it should come as no surprise that I picked up Health Care Reform, by economist and long-time health reform expert/advocate Jonathan Gruber, when it came out a few months ago.
It gives a walk-through of the imperiled health law, the PP-ACA, in basic terms– a “what does it mean to ME?” approach. I think most of the arguing that goes on around this thing doesn’t look at what it means to individuals– so bravo, Gruber, bravo. Not only is it readable, person-focused, and clear, it’s also very smart (Gruber’s an economist at MIT, has a PhD from Harvard, and worked on MA’s healthcare with Romney back in the day).
My only gripe? Well, it’s not really a gripe– he’s passionate. He wants it to succeed, and he believes it’s right, and he tells us why– but he pretty much ignores the problems with it, which even the loudest booster must know are there. So this comic-book-style explanation of the law is great, if you want to understand the basics– but it won’t prepare you to debate a republican– except maybe Mitt Romney 