Finding a Cure

DR. ROB STONE !74 DMS'75, prescribes insurance reform.

Bloomington, Indiana, ER physician Stone says the nation's health care system is in critical condition. That grim prognosis has transformed the mild-mannered medic into a passionate advocate for reform. Three years ago he founded Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan (HCHP) to focus the efforts of doctors, nurses, social workers, patients and taxpayers. A classic grassroots advocacy organization, HCHP members are making the case for a single-payer health care plan by speaking at farmers' markets as well as in the statehouse. Stone is working to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would examine the feasibility of such a plan.

"Insurance companies are the enemy, but there is plenty of blame to go around," he says, adding that 47 million people have no health coverage. "Doctors have been greedy, and the pharmaceutical industry is not blameless." Since the private insurance bureaucracy consumes 31 cents of every health care dollar, Stone wants to streamline payment through a single, nonprofit payer saving more than $350 billion a year that could provide comprehensive coverage to all.

Legislation is the only cure, says Stone, whose father served in the Indiana Senate and House of Representatives. He is hoping Indiana will be the first state in the country to adopt a single-payer plan. The Indiana native experienced the health care system firsthand when his wife, Mindy, was diagnosed with melanoma with brain metastasis; She died in 1984. Stone's "compas- sion comes from experiencing real pain and finding himself again," says Dr. Owen Slaughter, director of the Bloomington Hospital ER. Married to Karen since 1994, both were named 2007 Citizens of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers Indiana Region 6 for their work with HCHP. In May 2007 the Indiana Public Health Association presented its Citizen Advocacy Award to HCHP. "I recognize that Indiana seems an unlikely state to lead the pack," says Stone, "but that is part of what makes it fun."

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