MarketWatch reporter Kristen Gerencher looks beyond the headlines that hail a decline in the number of uninsured. Here's what she has to say:

This opinion piece appeared recently in the New York Times:

Paying Doctors to Ignore Patients

By PETER B. BACH
Published: July 24, 2008

The Commonwealth Fund has published their analysis of the impact of medical bills and accumulated medical debt. Here's their overview of the publication:

On August 5th, I attended the all-day meeting of the Oregon Health Fund Board (OHFB). At this meeting, the Board heard the third version of Executive Director Barney Speight's "straw person" plan. This version was noteworthy because of added elements missing from the first two versions, and better explanations of the original elements.

On July 22, I attended a conference held in Portland by CareOregon. Presenters were Sven-Olof Karlsson, CEO, and Goran Henriks, Chief of Learning and Innovation, from the County Council of Jonkoping, Sweden. The title of their talk was "Whole System Transformation: Intentional Design".