It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...health care reform!
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If health care policy wonks found the 2,409-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act daunting, imagine how the average person feels.
That's why Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber, one of the masterminds behind much of the reform plan's political rhetoric, has decided to rewrite the legislation in a format that most people will understand. At the behest of his three children, Mr. Gruber is writing a graphic novel—a comic book aimed at an adult audience—breaking down the behemoth bill into bite-size morsels.
But don't expect to see President Barack Obama depicted as a “caped crusader” taking down the evil health insurance industry. Unlike most comic books, Mr. Gruber's won't have a superhero or a villain.
“I'm going to use the facts to tell the story,” Mr. Gruber recently told the Boston Herald. He said he will serve as the narrator “guiding the reader through the law.” But it will have “lots of pictures,” he promised.
The book, tentatively titled “Health Care Reform: What it is, Why it's Necessary, How it Works,” is slated to be published this fall by Hill & Wang.
Mr. Gruber's editor at Hill & Wang, Thomas LeBien, also used graphic novels to explain the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation” was an immediate hit in the trade and educational markets after it was published in 2006.
