Shredding the Social Contract: The Privatization of Medicare

John Geyman has written a trenchant and timely contribution to the important debate on the future of Medicare--a debate that should engage families as well as policymakers.--Christine K. Cassel, MD, president of the American Board of Internal Medicine

Everyone knows that the Medicare program is in trouble. The problem is how to fix it. Many politicians advocate further privatization of the program as a solution. John Geyman concludes that this is the wrong solution. He comprehensively and persuasively reviews the evidence, including both published research and the experiences of many of Medicare's beneficiaries, to support this conclusion. We rather need, Doctor Geyman argues, a renewed commitment to the original vision of social insurance on which the program was based. This readable and practical account should be read by anyone who is concerned about the Medicare program and its future, which should be all of us.--Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, Robert L. Willett Family Professor, Washington and Lee University Law School

The largest safety net for retired Americans is about to be "privatized," which, Dr. John Geyman reveals, will be its destruction, unless we act now.

John Geyman, MD, is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and is the author of Falling Through The Safety Net: Americans Without Health Insurance. He lives outside of Seattle, Washington.