Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at The Florence Heller Graduate School for Social Policy, Brandeis University
Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Stuart Altman for a discussion of the struggle to reform healthcare in the U.S. Altman traces his intellectual odyssey and recalls his long term involvement in national policymaking. In his reflections, he considers the successes and failures of reform in the context of U.S. political culture and history. Analyzing efforts by Presidents from Roosevelt to Obama, he highlights the twin goals of cost reduction and universal access. He concludes with an examination of the Obama plan speculating on the future of cost control. In his conclusion, he offers advice to students on how to prepare for the future.

Recent Interviews

Feb 23 2012
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Feb 22 2012
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Jan 30 2012
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Nov 29 2011
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About Harry Kreisler

Harry Kreisler is the creator, executive producer and host of the Conversations with History series. Conceived in 1982 by Mr. Kreisler as a way to capture and preserve through conversation and technology the intellectual ferment of our times, Conversations with History includes over 500 interviews.

The story behind Conversations with History  (Click here to see the interview by filmmaker Ken Jacobs)