After 50 years as a patient with chronic illness and 35 years working in the industry of heath services delivery I have some conclusions.

1. Learning from past mistakes… A perspective on American Health-care and lessons for other
nations
Jeffrey Halbstein-Harris
Raleigh, NC
May 21, 2017
It has occurred to me that the reasons for our failure to deliver a quality service to all of our
citizens include:
● Our failure to commit to universal care.
● The natural self-preservation instinct in all human beings which drives them to horde
without consideration for others.
● The inability of Americans to face death as an acceptable outcome - “Ever”.
● The willingness of Americans to exchange anything (except personal death) to preserve
their own life.
● The rapid evolution of technology allowing humans to extend both life and life quality.
● The capacity of a free market system to create unbridled wealth for a small portion of the
community, sustain a middle class and ignore a lower class.
The output therefore of our drive to advance medicine has been the creation of a wealthy class
of professionals who attained their wealth through the exchange of fee for service procedures in
the 20th century without public awareness or consideration of fairness in the trade of knowledge
for life. At the same time, the free market industries of finance, insurance, technology and
management services became the mechanisms for rapid inflation in an uncontrolled commercial
market-place.
I caution my friends that are attempting to start from zero and develop a community health
system with the goal of addressing the needs of all persons, regardless of their personal
illness-burden and capacity to pay, to beware of the social as well as technical components of
their project as they embark on their mission.
Be advised that we have embarked on a journey without an agreement on our goals for human
health and well-being. Health and well-being, a highly subjective statement of life’s
circumstances should be clarified prior to developing a currency of added value in exchange for
assistance in self-management of health-status. We have missed the mark; are drifting away
from improvements achieved in the Affordable Care Act and ignorantly following the
mal-informed.
Is it my right to say this? I suggest it is. I am patient...hear me roar.
There will be much more to offer as you progress and I will do my best to fore-warn you of
potential threats. That said, I ask that you attribute all ideas herein to my family as follows:

2. Jeffrey F. Halbstein-Harris
Son of Saul Halbstein
Veteran of WWII (Phillipines)
Chief engineer: Titan II Rocket Booster in the labs of Wernher Von-Braun
Director of marketing: TRW Incorporated project HEAO, XAF, Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle
America’s Space Program.