Friday, September 5, 2008

The Palin Record in Alaska

Despite her efforts, CON law remains in place

Categories: Alaska, Certificates of Need (CON)

To take off on Joe's notice of the Washington Post article about the Gov. Palin administration, I notice that she was not successful in taking out the CON law.

Matthew Mosk characterized her approach as an "aggressive, uncompromising and, to date, unsuccessful push to promote competition." He also called it "one of her signature efforts."

A business executive on the other side of the struggle from her said "There are times when a leader has to take a stand, and that's what she did."

Doing away with certificates of need--14 states have done so--is not the only answer to improving the state of health care, certainly. But it's a step that others should follow.

For more on Alaska, see Legislative Non-Action is Half a Loaf.