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IT’S A REVERSAL of all the health policy stereotypes: the stark contrast between healthcare reform in Australia, where reports outnumber actions and listening tours substitute for decision-making, and the United States, where the chance of substantive reform increases every day.
Tackling healthcare reform at a time when everyone recognises that the system is broken and economically unsustainable – with the cooperation of all the major stakeholders, and in the absence of any substantive Republican counter-proposals – could well be what has driven progress in the United States to a point where over the next week we will likely see bills up for votes in both the House and the Senate. But it does raise the question: what’s so different in Australia?
Here in Washington DC, a torrid summer dominated by angry town hall meetings and lots of misinformation saw the White House floundering. President Obama used his speech to the joint session of the Congress in early September to regain the upper hand. Since then there has been a steady flow of data, talking points, media advertisements and organised, themed rallies from the bills’ supporters...
