Wolf Blitzer and CNN broke the story on Herman Cain’s latest marriage fidelity problem. Making it five at last count. Regardless of the size of Herman’s head, how can he possibly find room for what he knows that we don’t know? Plus all the things he should know as a candidate, but doesn’t? How desperate must Republican voters be to consider him presidential?
Newt has a big head too, but he’s compartmentalized the stuff we need … Continue reading »
It is historic health policy in a nation whose health care costs on average are two to three times those of other countries such as Japan or Germany, despite the fact only 52 percent of 306 million Americans always have insurance to make the costly care possible.
It’s historic because the chance of bending the cost curve requires universal insurance protection, a health insurance market reform strategy, a care quality strategy accompanied by payment policy focused … Continue reading »
Rick Scott made a fortune running the first and largest for-profit hospital corporation in America. He knows how to make money in a health care system as dysfunctional as ours. And he had the good fortune to escape responsibility for any wrong doing when HCA paid $1.7 billion fine in a U.S. Medicare fraud suit against his company. Unlike eBay’s Meg Whitman, he was also able to persuade Floridians he could use that experience to benefit … Continue reading »
The good news in this last election is that more Americans purport to own, carry and read the Constitution. The bad news is that each person has a different version of the original 4400-word document and no experience with the nearly 225 year tradition of its interpretation in which all our forefathers and mothers, through our judicial systems, have participated. Jill LePore does a nice job in The New Yorker of using history to help … Continue reading »
Posted January 18, 2011 in: Opinion Page, Uncategorized |
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MINNESOTA IN THE FALL
2010 is a “great weather year” in Minnesota, which always lifts the spirit. “The Dome” proves symbolic: replace it with the best outdoor baseball stadium in the country and the best home-owned team, and you spend October focused on the World Series. Turn the old “dome” over to the Mall Of America and the best pro football team in the country can only imagine a 41-year old Mississippi Packer leading them to … Continue reading »
Posted October 15, 2010 in: Uncategorized |
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AL FRANKEN’S FIRST BIRTHDAY
Minnesota courts resolved the Coleman-Franken campaign for the U.S. Senate in Franken’s favor a year ago this week. Al is still working on defining “Senator Franken (D-MN).” He’s been told so often he had to leave behind the funny-man satirist and the famous something else that he’s personally struggled with the role – taking “senator” lessons from Hillary Clinton. Fortunately, he’s learning … Continue reading »
Posted July 8, 2010 in: Afghanistan/Iraq, Culture of Health, Disruptive Governance, Elections, Ethics, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Legislatures, Local News, Medicare, Physician Leadership, The New Economy, Uncategorized |
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THE BEST RECREATION BARGAIN IN MINNESOTA IS NOT THE TWINS
Season tickets for the Twins vary in the thousands of dollars depending on seat location and opponent. I bought four Twins-Braves tickets between third base and the left-fielder for $185. Then I bought a season ticket to fish any one of Minnesota’s 15,000 lakes for $17.
A million other people and I will do that this year, including our … Continue reading »
Posted May 12, 2010 in: Disruptive Governance, Elections, Ethics, Government, Health Care Financing Reform, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Legislatures, Lobbying, Local News, Nonprofit, Community Benefit, Physician Leadership, Rationing, Uncategorized |
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NATIONAL NEWS
by Gary Varvel
THE NEW ECONOMY
The anger being displayed by many Americans is directed at “powers beyond their control” such as Wall Street product designers and financial market manipulators; such as Congress and the president, over whom we have some control over because we can get at them every couple of years; such as health insurance companies who pay their executives record compensation via stock … Continue reading »
Posted April 21, 2010 in: Disruptive Governance, Education Reform, Ethics, Government, Health Care Financing Reform, Health Care Reform, Local News, Medicaid, Medicare, Nonprofit, Community Benefit, Physician Leadership, The New Economy, Uncategorized |
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HEALTH CARE POLICY
by Chris Weyant
HEALTH POLICY REFORM
The legislation which President Obama signed is the best we can do as a nation…right now. It is historic. The commitment to universal access to health care through universal insurance coverage is the law of the land. In 1965 we committed to insure the elderly and disabled and to assist the states in covering some low-income persons. Last year we made … Continue reading »
by Nick Anderson
THE BLAIR HOUSE SUMMIT MOVED THE NEEDLE
There was never much doubt going in or coming out of the seven hours of summitry that Republicans were not going to help the president reshape health insurance reform or coverage expansion, or health delivery and payment reform unless it included catastrophic-only individual indemnity insurance, funded by taxpayer financed HSAs, but without national rules on risk assumption. … Continue reading »
Posted March 3, 2010 in: Disruptive Governance, Elections, Government, Health Care Reform, Local News, Medical Technology, Nonprofit, Community Benefit, Physician Leadership, The New Economy, Uncategorized |
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