Oregon's Radical Health Overhaul Blazes New Trail
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May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Talk to people in Oregon about healthcare for long and eventually you will be asked something likethis: “You’ve heard the air conditioner story, right?”
In this case, it’s John McConnell, a health economist atOregon Health and Science University, doing the asking. As itturns out, I have heard the story; it’s one that Oregon GovernorJohn Kitzhaber loves to tell. He loves to tell it so much, infact, that it has become something of a running joke in Oregonhealth-policy circles. At this point, even Kitzhaber is in onit. Before he repeats it to me, he says, “I probably shouldn’tbore you with my air conditioner story.”