A new iPhone app satirizes US healthcare reform while educating users

(People Operating Technology)

A new application that satirizes the overhaul of the US healthcare system can also test users' knowledge of one of the most pressing and confusing issues of the day in a quiz game for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Titled Death Panels - after the term famously used by Sarah Palin as she slammed President Obama and referred to bureaucrats in charge of deciding who might get healthcare and who wouldn't - the game is intended to provide a tongue-in-cheek satire of the issue. It also provides the basic facts about the overhaul of the system.

Made by tech developers People Operating Technology, Death Panels tests users' knowledge of the intricacies of healthcare reform through a quiz-like interface. The game features hundreds of questions about the healthcare industry based on information provided by the government and third-party sources, including WhiteHouse.gov, StateHealthFacts.org, NCHC.org and FactCheck.org. It puts the player in the role of an imaginary local elected official who has to answer questions correctly to his constituents about healthcare reform.

Touted by its makers as "100 percent non-political and non-partisan," the game is also part of the Serious Games initiative that reminds users of some important statistics, like the amount of Americans uninsured (46.3 million in 2008 up from 45.7 million in 2007) and the percentage of uninsured children in the United States (9.9 percent).

Users can also learn about how their real-life congressional representatives fare with health care lobbyists on the "players" feature, which uses data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

When the game is over, players are encouraged to post their scores on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook in order to spread awareness about the social and econonomic issues at the heart of the healthcare debate.

Death Panel is available for free in the App Store or at http://bit.l/deathpanelgame.

For more information please visit www.peopleoperatingtechnology.com