NEJM Perspectives Examine Likelihood Of U.S. Health Care System Collapse, San Francisco's Universal-Access Program

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 25 Jan 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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"The Amazing Noncollapsing U.S. Health Care System -- Is Reform Finally at Hand?" New England Journal of Medicine: In the NEJM perspective, Lawrence Brown, a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, examines the stability of the U.S. health system. Brown writes that the health care system "is unlikely to collapse from within," so reform most likely will stem from shifts in "public sentiment and the election of activist and reform-minded political leaders" (Brown, NEJM, 1/24).

"Golden Gate to Health Care for All? San Francisco's New Universal-Access Program," NEJM: In the NEJM perspective, Mitchell Katz, director of health at San Francisco's Department of Public Health, discusses the Healthy San Francisco program, which was launched in April 2007 and aims to provide access to comprehensive health care for all of the city's 73,000 uninsured residents. He also explains why the universal-access model is a logical option for San Francisco and why it is most applicable to counties with multiple safety-net providers (Katz, NEJM, 1/24).

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