Workshop Introductory Remarks

It should be clear that at the end of the 3-hour workshop you will not know everything there is to know about health care.

At the end of the workshop, you will know/have:

  1. How the health care system is made up of three interdependent parts
  2. The exorbitant costs of the system
  3. That outcomes are not proportional to costs
  4. That controlling costs has to be at the centerpiece of any sustainable reform
  5. A broad overview of sustainable health care systems in select countries
  6. The difference between phony reform and real (sustainable) reform
  7. A good understanding of single payer
  8. What is HR 676, “The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act” in the U.S. Congress

With this new understanding, you will learn to give a 5-10 minute power point presentation on the U.S. health care system and how to achieve sustainable reform. You will find notes to use for your presentations in this packet. (The presentation can be downloaded at

You will also learn to answer a few hard questions about health care and reform. A long list of typical hard reform questions and answers are included.

One of the action items will be to identify members of U.S. Congress from Texas who have not endorsed HR 676 and write letters requesting they endorse sustainable health care reform.

If you get the feeling there is something special about sustainable reform, you are on the right track. By the end of the workshop, if nothing else, you will understand the difference between sustainable and phony reform.

Ana Malinow, MD

Co-founder and Chair

Health Care for All Texas

Health Care for All Texas

Understanding Health Care, Making Reform!

A Community Workshop

Pre-Workshop Questionnaire on Sustainable Reform

July 31, 2008

Please complete this form before the workshop. Indicate how well the following statements on sustainable health care reform reflect your thinking by circling the appropriate number:

Not at all Slightly Somewhat Quite a bit Exactly

  1. Any kind of health care reform will 1 2 34 5

have to include the health insurance industry.

  1. Sustainable health care reform could include1 2 3 4 5

expanding Medicaid and the Children’s

Health Insurance Plan.

  1. Sustainable health care reform could include 1 2 3 4 5

tax credits.

  1. Sustainable health care reform could include 1 2 3 4 5

a public program that competes with private

insurance.

  1. Single payer is the best solution for sustainable 1 2 3 4 5

health care reform.

  1. I have given ______presentations on health

care in the past.

  1. I feel prepared to give a presentation on health1 2 3 4 5

care.

Please bring this questionnaire with you to the workshop on July 31.

Health Care for All Texas

Summer Training Workshop

July 31, 2008

“Understanding Health Care, Making Reform”

A Community Workshop

Time

I. Dinner and Introductions5:30-6:00

II. Presentations

A.Understanding Health Care and Reform6:00-6:15

B.Understanding Other Countries’ Systems6:15-6:30

C.Sustainable Reform—Single Payer

and HR 6766:30-6:45

D.The 5-minute Presentation6:45-6:50

III. Role Playing7:00-7:30

IV.Debriefing7:30-8:00

V. Action Plan8:00-8:30

VI.Evaluations8:30-8:40