Ask Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber Your Questions on Our Healthcare System
Pulitzer Prize-winning healthcare reporters will be answering reader questions in a Facebook chat on Wednesday, April 4 at 2 p.m.
Our reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber have been investigating the U.S. health care system for years. They've probed money that doctors receive from drug companies, as well as lax oversight of California nurses (a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist.) They’ve also extensively covered the U.S. transplant program.
The duo, who won a 2005 Pulitzer Prize, will be answering reader questions in a Facebook chat on Wednesday, April 4 at 2 p.m.
Charlie and Tracy started working together nine years ago at the Los Angeles Times. Before that, Tracy worked at the Orange County Register, and Charlie was at the Dallas Morning News.
They won’t be able to answer all questions, but most healthcare-related topics are fair game: medical ethics, the basics of the U.S. healthcare system, how to pick a good doctor, or what it’s like to report with the same person for nearly a decade.
Some tips on participating:
- You must have a Facebook account to participate.
- The chat will be hosted on ProPublica’s main Facebook account, and our reporters will be joining via Charlie’s personal account.
- We’ll post an update at 1:30 p.m. to start the chat; once you see it, feel free to start posting your comments and questions.
- We will remove any comments that are off-topic or inappropriate, so please keep it clean.
See you Wednesday!
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9 comments
John Hain
April 3, 2012, 8:56 p.m.
There are plenty of examples of successful systems for providing affordable, quality health care throughout the developed world. What gets in the way of our adopting or adapting one of those? My guess is corporate power. Hopefully it is not simply arrogance.
Max
April 3, 2012, 11:54 p.m.
Please don’t tie discussions like this to Facebook.
Jim
April 4, 2012, 7:53 a.m.
I dumped my Facebook account couple of months ago .
CA Adams
April 4, 2012, 2:10 p.m.
How is pricing set for healthcare services such as primary care, vaccines, surgery, procedures and so on?
PS Ditto: Please don’t tie discussions like this to Facebook.
Morris Foutch
April 4, 2012, 2:56 p.m.
Suggest avoiding use of Facebook for these questions. People dont want to expose their lack of info.
Mike Thomas
April 4, 2012, 6:29 p.m.
What would the percentage be to fund the current national costs (provision, not to include the insurance costs) of our health care expense if it were to be paid by a flat rate income tax such as SS and the Medicare portion… and assume that there is no “cap” to the rate as there is with SS and Medicare. If that were halved and part paid by the employer as with SS and Medicare?
Just thinking…
(I don’t use social media)
FH Moryl
April 4, 2012, 9:31 p.m.
Why can’t we (the general citizenry) have the same health care benefits/coverage that our elected representatives enjoy in the House and Senate? A very simple question.
PS Ditto: Please don’t tie discussions like this to Facebook.
Will R.
April 5, 2012, 8:35 a.m.
I don’t have a FrackBook account and don’t plan to, but I do have a question that I’ve never seen addressed.
If the single-payer arrangement that we all need and deserve were to be implemented, what would happen to the thousands upon thousands of insurance industry jobs that are contingent on the continuation of the current unsustainable system?
Rixar13
April 30, 2012, 1:48 p.m.
Will the SCOTUS be the new Death Panel?
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