HJM with the US Political Shift
HJM is refining its mission in light of political realignment in the U.S.
November 13, 2024
Comment by: Jim Kahn & Don McCanne
First, sincere apologies for the two-week lapse in HJM postings. We were consumed with worry leading up to the election, followed by shock and despair with the result. For those of us on the Left, the upcoming period is fraught with major socio-political risks and challenges. HJM readers no doubt feel similar intense and complex emotions.
Where does HJM fit into this new and fraught political environment? We’ve been contemplating this tough question.
Without a doubt, we need to keep monitoring the performance of current health insurance, which is likely to deteriorate with pursuit of the Project 2025 health policies. Other advocates do that exceptionally well, including HEALTH CARE un-covered on private insurer misbehavior, JustCare on Medicare issues, and PNHP laser-focused on Medicare Advantage.
HJM will still highlight discussing research and policy news that reveals the inefficiencies and inequities of our fragmented insurance system. We will, as always, get geeky in the interest of understanding the dynamics behind the news, and of making connections between issues. We will always analyze and educate about single payer / improved Medicare-for-All.
And, we will increase our attention to front-and-center political issues: How does single payer help us meet the current challenge to US democracy? How can single payer broaden support for progressive policies? How can it help heal the left-right political rift, by demonstrating the compatibility of efficiency and equity? How can we best convince skeptical right-leaning audiences of the common sense of single payer?
We welcome HJM reader input on refining our mission. What do you most value in HJM? What topics would you like us to address? How can we best support the struggle for health care justice, and invigoration of American democratic ideals? You can reply to the HJM email, or email healthjusticemonitor@gmail.com.
About the Commentator, Jim Kahn
Jim (James G.) Kahn, MD, MPH (editor) is an Emeritus Professor of Health Policy, Epidemiology, and Global Health at the University of California, San Francisco. His work focuses on the cost and effectiveness of prevention and treatment interventions in low and middle income countries, and on single payer economics in the U.S. He has studied, advocated, and educated on single payer since the 1994 campaign for Prop 186 in California, including two years as chair of Physicians for a National Health Program California.
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