Health Care Reform Bill Reflections

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Today, we are on the verge of an historic change in health care as President Obama places his signature on the bill to make health care reform the law of the land. I thought it was an appropriate time to reflect on this momentous event and to share my thoughts with you.

As a practitioner, payer and educator, I have been deeply concerned for decades that our health care system neglects fifteen per cent of Americans who are unable to purchase or afford health insurance. Now, almost half a century after the passage of Medicaid and Medicare, President Obama has, with the stroke of a pen, removed the major obstacles to providing comprehensive health care for millions of the uninsured. This is certainly a cause for celebration!

Providing access to insurance is but the first step in revamping a broken health care system. We must now turn our attention to controlling costs, and improving quality, safety, and prevention. Passage of the bill into law presents enormous challenges for the medical profession and the education of our future health care and public health professionals. We must join together to embrace the opportunities and to meet the challenges presented by the new law.

The demand to expand the physician workforce becomes even more urgent now with the need to accommodate millions of newly covered Americans and a rapidly growing Medicare population. Tufts is responding to that challenge by expanding training in public health, increasing enrollment and creating innovative training opportunities for medical students, such as our Maine Track.

Since we are a community of caring professionals with strongly held beliefs and opinions, I know that we will have some differing views on the wisdom of these changes in health care. I encourage you to share your perspectives. To enable this, we plan to host a symposium on the Boston campus this Spring to provide a forum to discuss these viewpoints and concomitant opportunities. I also welcome any other ideas you may have to promote a healthy discussion.

What an exciting time for the country, for the medical profession and for Tufts University School of Medicine! This is indeed a moment in history to remember.

Sincerely,
Harris A. Berman, MD
Dean ad interim