Ezekiel Emanuel On Reinventing American Health Care

11:13

March 28, 2014

Part of the website for HealthCare.gov as photographed in Washington. (Jon Elswick/AP)

If you are one of the millions of Americans still without health insurance, then go ahead and add "sign up for coverage" to your weekend to-do list... because the enrollment deadline for the Affordable Care Act is Monday.

If you're not signed up by Monday, be prepared to face a tax penalty of up to one percent of your income.

The chaotic launch of healthcare.gov and the "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it," promise have confirmed the fears of many who doubted the success of the Affordable Care Act.

But the White House announced yesterday that it's hit its goal of getting more than six million people signed up for private plans.

Guest

Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives and chair of the department of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Served as a special adviser to the White House on health care reform from 2009 to 2011. Senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Author of "Reinventing American Health Care."

Ezekiel Emanuel's Health Predictions

By 2020:

Special care for the chronically and mentally ill
The emergence of digital medicine and the closure of hospitals
The end of health care inflation

By 2025:

The end of insurance companies as we know them
The end of employer-sponsored health insurance
The transformation of medical education

WBUR: Obamacare's National Enrollment Looks OK, But States Matter More

"With this year's deadline to register for individual health insurance just a weekend away, much attention is being lavished on two numbers — the 6 million Americans who have signed up so far, and the percentage of those folks who are (or aren't) young."

The Boston Globe: ‘Reinventing American Health Care’ By Ezekiel Emanuel

"Like it or not, the Affordable Care Act is probably here to stay. But you really should like it, according to Ezekiel Emanuel, former senior health adviser to President Obama and one of the measure’s architects. He describes the program, often referred to as Obamacare, as 'a world historical achievement, even more important for the United States than Social Security and Medicare have been.'"

New Republic: Insurance Companies As We Know Them Are About To Die
And Here's What's Going To Replace Them

"Americans hate health insurance companies. They are easy targets for everyone to beat up on. When premiums go up, we blame insurance companies; we do not blame the underlying hospitals or physicians who charge high prices that drive up insurance costs."

Excerpt

This segment aired on March 28, 2014.

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