498and long term care aid, thus saving our health system dollars. Lindsay Kuhn dared us to think about moving beyond the traditional supervising physician-PA relationship to embrace PAs as first-line research colleagues. The audience applause response meter indicated that each of these daring ideas was well received. We all agreed that encouraging out-of-the-box thinking made for a stimulating conference.

No abstract

NAPCRG's 2012 Annual Meeting took place in New Orleans, Louisiana the fi rst week of December and was a celebration of NAPCRG's 40th anniversary. The fi rst day's plenary session by T. R. Reid, American author, well-known reporter, documentary fi lmmaker, and commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition was both lighthearted and thought-provoking. Reid recounted his experiences obtaining health care in various industrialized nations in which he lived with his family while completing his book, The Healing of America and PBS documentary, Sick Around the World. Reid compared 4 different health care models used in industrialized nations, including: the Beveridge model, the Bismarck model, the National Health Insurance or Tommy Douglas model, and the out-of-pocket model. Designed by National Health Service creator Lord William Beveridge, the Beveridge model provides health care for all citizens and is fi nanced by the government through tax payments. This "socialized medicine" model is currently found in Great Britain, Spain, and New Zealand. The Bismarck model uses an insurance system and is usually fi nanced jointly by employers and employees through payroll deduction. Unlike with the US insurance industry, Bismarck-type health insurance plans do not make a profi t and must include all citizens. Doctors and hospitals tend to be private in Bismarck countries. This model is found in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, and Switzerland. The National Health Insurance model has elements of both the Beveridge and Bismarck models. It uses private-sector providers, but payment comes from a government-run insurance program that all citizens fund through a premium or tax. These universal insurance programs tend to be less expensive and have lower administrative costs than American-style for-profi t insurance plans. National Health Insurance plans also control costs by limiting the medical services they pay for and/or requiring patients wait to be treated. The classic National Health Insurance system can be found in Canada. The fi nal model, the out-of-pocket model, is what is

No abstract

No abstract