Breaking gridlock in health policy?; Comment on "A new synthesis".

Breaking Gridlock in Health Policy?; Comment on “A New Synthesis”

Pierre-Gerlier Forest has put forward the case that we are on the brink of a revolution in health policy that will be the result of the interplay of five factors. I would not challenge any of them but would emphasize the need to address socio-economic health inequalities, which have the potential to become a major cost driver in a time of growing economic inequality. To Dr. Forest’s list, I wou...

A New Synthesis in Search of Synthesizing Agents; Comment on “A New Synthesis”

In a recent editorial in this journal Pierre-Gerlier Forest foretells a coming revolution in health policy based on the synthesis of four conceptual innovations and one technological breakthrough. As much as I agree with the intellectual story told in this editorial I present a more skeptical view of the effect of paradigm shifts on healthcare systems on the ground. I argue that ideas triumph w...

Global Health in the Anthropocene: Moving Beyond Resilience and Capitalism; Comment on “Health Promotion in an Age of Normative Equity and Rampant Inequality”

There has been much reflection on the need for a new understanding of global health and the urgency of a paradigm shift to address global health issues. A crucial question is whether this is still possible in current modes of global governance based on capitalist values. Four reflections are provided. (1) Ecological–centered values must become central in any future global health framework. (2) ...

Breaking gridlock: the determinants of health policy change in Congress.

Prior to the 2010 health care reforms, scholars often commented that health policy making in Congress was mired in political gridlock, that reforms were far more likely to fail than to succeed, and that the path forward was unclear. In light of recent events, new narratives are being advanced. In formulating these assessments, scholars of health politics tend to analyze individual major reform ...

Commentary Breaking American Health Policy Gridlock