Americans Can Agree On Health-Care Reform

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If you were to judge by the rancorous town-hall meetings or the vitriolic television ads or the overheated rhetoric out of Washington, you would come to the conclusion that Americans are so divided over health-care reform that there is no way we will come together to enact any changes.

But it turns out that when regular folks sit down in a controlled setting and follow an academically designed exercise that asks them to make a series of health-care decisions -- mindful of limited resources -- they can agree on the outlines of what a reformed system should look like, and what elements should receive priority.

Those who have conducted these Choosing Healthplans All Together, or CHAT, sessions say participants by and large exhibit plenty of common sense about health choices, realizing insurance can't pay for everything but that it should pay the most for care most likely to prevent illness, disease or death. In the end, they are willing to make tough choices, even sacrifice their own priorities, for a system that will lead to a greater good.

Why won't that approach work in D.C.? None of the people in the CHAT sessions had to raise campaign funds or got wined and dined by lobbyists or wanted earmarks as a condition of their vote.

-- assistant managing editor/Personal Finance

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