On the Road to Transformation

We are stuck between a rock and a very hard place. We acknowledge that today’s system does not work – not for providers, payers, patients or taxpayers. Yet, when new ideas are proposed, we hold on tight to the way things are, saying ‘yes we know things are bad, but...

Laughter May Be a Medicine After All!

The power of laughter and music on one’s health was studied by a group of Japanese researchers. They found indications that laughter and music contributed to lower blood pressure. Referring to their results, Dr. Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the...

Up to $242B in Health Costs of Coal

Valerie Davis, CEO of EnviroMedia Social Marketing, summarized a recent report, “Full Cost Accounting for the Life Cycle of Coal” (in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences). The article describes all of the ways that coal impacts our society and...

Q&A on Oregon’s Health Insurance Exchange

On March 22nd, 2011, two staff from the Oregon Health Authority joined us to answer questions about plans for an Oregon Health Insurance Exchange – Jeremy Vandehey (Community Engagement Coordinator) and Gregory Olivette (Policy Analyst). The video is a little...

Learning From Massachusetts and Utah Exchanges

The Oregon Legislature is grappling with the role that Oregon’s Health Insurance Exchange will take and how it will be run and governned. A recent article published by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute tries to cut through the stereotypes of two...