Healthcare Crisis: Paying More, Getting Less?

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Instructor: Neil A. (Tony) Holtzman, M.D., M.P.H.Our healthcare is in crisis and it’s affecting our health. Compared to other countries, healthcare in the U.S. is more costly and less accessible. And we don't live as long. Factors other than healthcare, such as inappropriate diet, sedentary lifestyle, impure air and water, and pandemics are a few of the challenges we are up against. Join this 6-week course for a look at the data and in-depth discussions on the problems we face in health and healthcare and on possible solutions.Topics will include:Our health and healthcare over time and compared to other countriesThe role of doctors: past, present, and future. The importance of primary careThe high costs of health insurance, drugs, and laboratory testsIs for-profit healthcare compatible with better health?Fallibility of physicians and the role of patientsWhat can be done?Bio: Tony Holtzman is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His book, "Proceed with Caution: Predicting Genetic Risks in the Recombinant DNA Era" was commended by Nobel Laureate Max Perutz for "the breadth and cogency of his arguments...his tolerant and compassionate outlook, his skepticism of technical and human perfection, and his passion for social justice." Since his retirement in 2001, Tony has published five novels, a collection of short stories, and, very recently, a memoir. He lives in Menlo Park.