In an op-ed piece in The Sun today, Ken Ulman and Peter Beilenson write of the lessons they’ve learned about healthcare reform from their Healthy Howard intiative.
“Much of the discussion in Washington has been theoretical. Our experience is real-world. Every single day, we implement a universal health and wellness program that can inform both aspects of the debate.”
The article goes on to explain what the county has learned about the economic challenges of the program.
“More than 40 percent of our members express concerns regarding finances and describe how the monthly struggle to survive financially greatly limits their ability to take charge of their health.”
The thing is these numbers are statistically insignificant. While they point out that Howard County has a population of over 270,000 they never mention how many people are actually enrolled in the Healthy Howard program. I believe there is a reason for this. As of the end of June, there were only 200 people enrolled in Healthy Howard out of an estimated 10,000 eligible residents.
While I generally applaud the initiative I do wonder how much validity there is any lesson learned from 2% of your eligible base.
Ulman and Beilenson are like two little kids who are desperate to receive recognition for their school project.
ReplyDeleteAnd it’s pretty lame when the main point of their reform is to simply throw “more robust subsidies”- to use their own words- at the working class. These two are interested in rhetoric, not reform.
I've said from the beginning of this failed program, Ulman really doesn't care if this actually works or not (and it clearly has not worked whatsoever thus far) , he just wants to be able to say in future campaign literature that he "started" Healthy Howard
ReplyDeleteThis program in unabashedly dripping on political ladder climbing. Washington? Give me a break!
ReplyDeleteStatistics are ignored by those who want to obscure the truth, and that includes those who lead groups in the county that have no membership reach whatever (hcca). Not statistically relevant. Sort of like local blogs thus far though blogs have a better chance of having a future impact than local organizations with a strong right or left wing agenda.
This article is so far from the truth that someone has to call the authors on it. Have you commented on the Sun website or contacted the ombudsman? I think it would be worth writing a rebuttal, or even demanding a retraction. The authors leave out any data that would lend them a shred of credance...because there are none.
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