The Healing of America

It is difficult to imagine a more significant or relevant work of nonfiction being released in 2009 than T.R. Reid's endlessly informative and exceptionally lucid analysis of the American health care crisis. Reid conclusively demonstrates that, in terms of overall health care, citizens in the United States spend more and receive less for their money than the people of any other developed nation in the world. This is exemplified when Reid travels to various countries seeking treatment for a chronic shoulder injury. In America, a renowned orthopedist suggests an outrageously expensive and risky joint replacement surgery, while various European doctors prescribe physical therapy, and an Indian clinic wins the prize with a regiment of herbs and massage. An eternal optimist, Reid cites our embarrassing lack of a health care system as an opportunity to learn from the qualities and problems of all the other existing systems. After identifying the inherent flaws which plague the American health care industry, Reid cites specific examples of various programs and initiatives from around the world that have proven to be most successful, primarily culling from the different health care systems of France, Canada, England, Germany, and Japan. Reid's great achievement lies not only in clarifying the mess of issues involved in the America health care debate, but in providing hope that a logical examination of existing health care systems might eventually result in Americans receiving the best health care possible at a price everyone can afford.