The federal insurance program is the only player in the health-care game with a pure incentive to control costs. But political resistance keeps it from fulfilling this role. Gradually expanding the program could be the answer.

In a large number of rural counties, people, on average, are living shorter lives than a decade ago. If we want to turn those trends around, we'll have to do the work ourselves. Now's the time to start.

Rural hospitals need to become health care centers, not just places with beds and emergency rooms. And it wouldn't hurt if the cafeteria were also the best place to eat in town!

The real issue in American medical education is geographic distribution and specialty distribution. It doesn't matter how many doctors you have if they are of the wrong kinds and are in the wrong places — as they have been throughout my 50 years of medical school watching.