My biggest fear, that 27 percent of Americans under 65 have an existing health condition that, without the protections of the Affordable Care Act, would mean they would - could be automatically excluded from insurance coverage. Before the ACA, they wouldn't have been able to get insurance coverage on the individual market, you know, if you're a freelancer or if you had a small business or the like.
Atul GawandeIf the conversation people think is coming is the 'death panel' conversation, that's a total failure.
Atul GawandeWhen I do an operation, it's half a dozen people. When it goes beautifully, it's like a symphony, with everybody playing their part.
Atul GawandeIn every industrialized nation, the movement to reform health care has begun with stories about cruelty.
Atul GawandeIn psychology, there's something called the broken-leg problem. A statistical formula may be highly successful in predicting whether or not a person will go to a movie in the next week. But someone who knows that this person is laid up with a broken leg will beat the formula. No formula can take into account the infinite range of such exceptional events.
Atul Gawande