Of all the many interesting offerings on a new Kaiser Family Foundation "gateway" website on health care reform, I especially like the timeline on the history of health care reform efforts in this country - a sorry and sordid story.

Some of my undergrad students attempted a similar timeline on a student project this past semester. I'm proud of their commitment to learning from history.

Other things Kaiser promotes on its new site:

* An interactive tool for comparing major health care reform proposals, including President Obama’s Principles for Health Reform and congressional proposals from Senator Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee, Senators Wyden and Bennett, and Representatives Conyers, Dingell, and Stark. The side-by-side allows users to choose which proposals and characteristics to compare, including coverage, cost containment and financing. The side-by-side will be regularly updated to reflect changes in the proposals and to incorporate major new proposals.
* A series of Explaining Health Care Reform Briefs providing an overview of key topics and concepts being discussed in health reform efforts. The initial three Briefs explore “what is health insurance”, “what is an employer pay or play requirement”, and “what are health insurance exchanges”.
* A glossary providing simple, straightforward definitions of key terms to assist in understanding the concepts included in health reform proposals.

Check it out.