Martin Schneider writes:

In 2007 I reviewed Atul Gawande's book Better for Publishers Weekly. I ended the review with this sentence: "Indeed, one suspects that once we cure the ills of the health care system, we'll look back and see that Gawande's writings were part of the story."

How quickly predictions come to pass. It turns out Gawande does have a well-positioned fan in the White House. According to The New York Times:

President Obama recently summoned aides to the Oval Office to discuss a magazine article investigating why the border town of McAllen, Tex., was the country's most expensive place for health care. The article became required reading in the White House, with Mr. Obama even citing it at a meeting last week with two dozen Democratic senators.

"He came into the meeting with that article having affected his thinking dramatically," said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon. "He, in effect, took that article and put it in front of a big group of senators and said, 'This is what we've got to fix.'"

Furthermore, America's hippest health care wonk, Ezra Klein, called Gawande's piece possibly "the best article on health care you'll ever read," which is even more impressive.

Update: Enjoy Gawande's University of Chicago commencement speech, delivered this morning.