A View From The Press Box

I can’t believe Bill Bailey is gone. In my 28 years covering the insurance business, I don’t recall anyone with more energy, enthusiasm and good humor (often bitingly self-deprecating) when it came to defending all the good this industry does for society–particularly when clients have their lives devastated by natural disasters. Yet gone Bill is, having passed away at 68 after a bout with cancer. This “master of disaster,” as I used to teasingly greet him, will certainly be missed by an industry that needs all the warriors it can find to defend its beleaguered reputation.

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The sad truth about the current debate over healthcare is that it has little to do with real reform while there is little informed debate going on, says NU Associate Editor Mark Ruquet, after attending a local town hall meeting this week. Read the rest of this entry »

If you really want to get comprehensive health care reform in this country, force all members of Congress to shop for individual coverage for themselves and their families. You’d see legislation in no time! Read the rest of this entry »

Now that the public option is pretty much dead and buried, how in the world is President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress going to get coverage for the 47 million or so without health insurance? Why not mandate that each state create an assigned risk plan? Read the rest of this entry »