Under the Dome by Joel Wood
March 2010
Boston Massacre
The Democrats’ healthcare reform initiative may have been
thwarted by the election of a 41st Republican senator, but
brokers still face some serious threats to their business.
January/February 2010
Ain't Over
It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Healthcare
reform now becomes a House-Senate showdown.
December 2009
Hell
Yes, I understand paybacks are hell. But some of the proposed
health reforms are simply madness.
November 2009
My Surplus Line
Love Me because I'm just not going away.
October 2009
Principle Survival
We have friends on both sides of the aisle, and our enemies on
one issue are our allies on another. And while we may
compromise, we will hang onto our principles.
September 2009
Moving Target
Healthcare reform is a moving target. Unfortunately, that
target right now is insurers.
July/August 2009
The 15% Solution
If a government health plan is imposed, will it be treated like
private plans? Pay premium taxes to states? Allow brokers to
sell it?
June 2009
80-20 Rule
Interest group differences stalled healthcare reform for years,
but Obama may now have the political muscle to make single
payer a reality.
May 2009
Unfair Competition
What if you could create a healthcare plan that could undercut
competitors’ costs and force them to subsidize your plan?
That’s what Congress is considering.
April 2009
Phantasmagorical
The path of least resistance for Congress may prove hazardous
for insurance companies: federal regulation without preemption
of duplicative or conflicting state laws.
March 2009
Rain on Our Parade
The excitement and exhilaration in our nation’s capital
don’t hide the anxiety over the potential consequences of
healthcare reform.
January/February 2009
Yo’ Mama
And you thought the economy would receive the mother lode of
Congressional angst. Just wait: Health insurance reform is
shaping up to be the mother of all political battles in 2009.
December 2008
Yes We Can
Yes, we can predict the feds are coming, but what happens, no
one really knows. The only certainty is that gridlock is over.
November 2008
We Have Options
The AIG debacle could change the way Congress views the
Optional Federal Charter.
October 2008
Shattered Glass
This has nothing to do with women butting up against a federal
glass ceiling, but everything to do with my foggy crystal ball.
September 2008
Blindsided
None of us saw this one coming. Framing regulatory reform as
free competition is getting Congress' attention.
July/August 2008
Captains Courageous
Natural disasters bring out our best and worst. We’re not
as bad as our detractors paint us, nor are we as good as we
like to think we are.
June 2008
McCain’s Pain
He attacks group health insurance—the one part of the
health insurance system that actually works. Why destroy what
works instead of the other way around?
May 2008
Playing the Percentages
In Washington, everybody wants to go to heaven, and nobody
wants to die. My job is to get something passed in my
lifetime—even if it’s not all that I want.
April 2008
Moral Hazard
In the end, Spitzer unmasks his last victim: himself.
March 2008
A Hair's Breadth
We are this close—just one misstep away from Congress
turning on us. Pray for good weather and good karma in 2008.
January/February 2008
20/20 Hindsight
Bush may be loathed by most Americans, but for our industry,
he's looking better all the time. History may judge him kindly.
December 2007
Being Frank
Massachusetts liberal Barney Frank is prolific in moving
legislation and a supporter of many of our key issues.
November 2007
Taking the Lunge
If it feels like déjà vu all over again, it is.
Let’s dare to be different and move the optional federal
charter idea forward. A little drama never hurt anyone.
October 2007
What? Me Worry?
I’m a partisan, inside-the-beltway Republican who
understands that conventional wisdom isn’t always.
September 2007
Nuking TRIA
It could be a tough fall for renewing the federal terrorism
backstop. A compromise in the works? Let’s hope it
doesn’t go down to the wire.
July/August 2007
No Your Client
When you can’t even give your client a calendar, you know
anti-rebating laws are no longer about consumer protection, but
industry protectionism.
June 2007
Value Abated
May 2007
One Angry Man
April 2007
The Antitrust
January/February 2007
Smart, Scrappy and Mad
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