What I'm trying to do is give the students some perspective on today's headlines. I the students in this class, and the people who are watching this video, are people who are interested in public policy. But it's very easy sometimes to lose sight of the big picture. You're focused on this debate, or that debate, this latest public opinion poll. You need some context. And so what I was trying to do today was to frame some basic questions. What is healthcare as a commodity? Why is it a difficult one to supply and demand? What is it about healthcare that makes it one that involves government? Why is the United States healthcare system look different than the healthcare systems of other countries? What is Obamacare? What does it try to do and why's it been so controversial? Trying to give students a sense of the historical context, some of the economics that would lead them to have a better understanding of the way in which healthcare is provided in the market. As well as some of the bigger philosophical debates and why good people can disagree about the appropriate role of government in the healthcare arena. I think historically it has not been a major issue. I think young people who have been interested in public policy have been much more concerned about human rights, about the environment, perhaps about poverty. Health care has been something that old people worry about. Senior citizens for example. You know, obviously people who get Medicare they're very attu, attentive to government's role in a health care arena. But I do think the debate about Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. Has involved young people to some degree. Certainly kids that are interested in public policy have a better understanding of it. I also think with, in, in recent years, have had an economic slowdown. Had a recognition that middle class wages have stagnated. I think there's a growing recognition that there's a connection between that and healthcare. And finally, we've had a lot of debates recently about the budget deficit and the debt. We've had crises about this. And again, at the center of those debates looking out in the future fiscal situation of the country, healthcare is a big part of that as well. So, I do think over time and understanding that healthcare is at the center of our public policy debates is percolating through the better educated citizenry. Well many of the people who are in this class are watching a video like this are not only going to be citizens, they're going to be decision makers. They're going to be people who are either directly implementing public policy. Or they're in the position, because of their interest and knowledge and background, to make a real difference. Whether it's by working on a campaign, writing a letter, writing an op-ed, or being involved in the private sector. Because the private sector's going to have to make very important decisions whether a private employer continues to participate or decides not to participate in the health care system in different ways. So through the employer's side, the employee's side the citizen's side, there's lots of different ways for people to be involved. I think it, the most important thing I want them to recognize is that there's no easy solution to the health care problem. That's the most important thing, that they recognize that there's going to be trade offs between access and cost. Between quality and and unfettered ability of individuals to re, receive what ever healthcare they want. That there is a trade off between the role of the market and the role of government. For them to understand that the reason why we've been struggling over healthcare is because there's not easy answers actually. This is a hard conundrum. It's a difficult set of dilemmas. And what we've seen in Obama Care is an effort to say to the country. Here is one possible solution to these dilemmas. It's not a perfect one, but it's a solution. We've been struggling with it because I think there's a growing recognition even apart from the unsuccessful implementation of it. That, you know, more of something means less of something else. If we have a bigger government role, well it's a little bit less role of the market. Or, we don't have medicare for all, because we want to leave in place existing private insurance. It's an effort of the affordable care act to find a middle ground. And we're living in a time of great polarization when it's not so easy to find the middle. It's one of the things that I personally believe is most important for a school like, like Batten. That all students come in and are challenged. It doesn't matter to me at all whether a student is liberal or conservative. But I do want them to reflect on their beliefs. To think about the evidence. To think about pragmatically would this solution work best in this, in this context. And to recognize again the trade offs. The economic trade offs. The trade offs in terms of our values. That's really for me as a professor what's key, is that students learn to reflect on their own values, to gather data and at the end of the day, to refine their views. Hopefully their views change as they become better educated.
