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In March Congress passed and the President signed into law the US Senate bill that reforms health care.  Most of the reform deals with health care insurance.  Employer-sponsored insurance plans must begin complying with the new law beginning in October 2010.  More changes and reforms take effect later – especially in 2014.  Unfortunately, the changes will very likely result in a significant double whammy of higher health insurance costs and higher taxes since benefits and coverage are significantly expanded with almost no provisions for any cost controls while at the same time significantly

Not too long ago we all began a journey of exploration into the digital world of cyberspace.  This journey began in the middle part of the last century with a few folks interacting with large computers in climate-controlled rooms.  Soon, the reach of those computers extended out to a few desks with “dumb” terminals, then in the 1980’s we welcomed the arrival of personal computers on our desk putting real computing right at our fingertips.  Then portables and laptops unleashed the computer from desks.  Most of us now carry around in our pockets more computing power, more data storage, and mo

One of the most important questions in the current health care reform debate is this: How should we, the richest, most technologically advanced and well-educated society in the world, respond to the silent cries of the Uninsured?  

We have allowed thousands of our fellow citizens to die unnecessarily.  Studies show a 25% higher risk of death among the uninsured compared to those with health insurance.  That may be as many as 45,000 uninsured US citizens dying each year from preventable conditions. (Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults , 2009) 

A local teacher complained to the school board about difficult choices and high costs of health insurance and betting that his family will remain health for seven years with a $10,000 deductible and an HSA.   The teacher is not alone in his wagers with health insurance and his family’s health.  All of us are facing similar dilemmas.  Many are facing much worse choices.  It’s likely a safe bet that most of the school board members are facing these same difficult choices.  Unfortunately, the problem is much bigger than a local school board can address.  The simple shifting of costs from indiv

We in the United States decided many years ago that K-12 education is a basic value of our society and a right of all citizens.  Is health care so different from education?  In K-12 education why do we think that the open free market won’t work?  Isn’t it because the free market doesn’t work effectively to provide universal education?  Why is health care so different?

People on each side of the Atlantic both praise and criticize their own and other countries’ health care systems. If you are interested in learning more about the United Kingdom’s system, here’s a good resource:  

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/story/2009/08/lets-attack-the-nhs.html

How about other countries?  Look here:

We face a challenging problem in healthcare.  Here’s a review of the problem:

Here are examples of how some in the workplace have lost sight of the goal and are letting instinctive and conditioned behaviors distract them.