Health

by Patrick Coleman, Minnesota Historical Society • 7/31/08 • I had just picked up my paddle the other night to canoe under the full moon when my phone rang. It was my old friend Tim J., who wanted to talk to me about Minnesota’s 150 best books.

The Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was added to the financial bailout package, passed, and promptly signed into law last week. The mental health parity legislation was added to the $700 billion bailout package to win support after the House rejected the bailout earlier in the week. The law requires health insurers to provide benefits, co-payments and treatments for mental health services and substance abuse disorders equal to traditional medical coverage. MORE »

The gravel crunched as I rolled to a stop. Machinery whined nearby. I kept the engine running.

When he stepped out of the shadowed doorway, I handed over the cardboard box. Glassware clinked as he turned away. In minutes, he re-emerged; the box heavy, the bottom bowed. MORE »

James Kvaal, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Center for American Progress was in St. Paul yesterday to issue a warning about Sen. John McCain’s “radical” plan for health care. Kvall was one of five Center staff members who are fanned out across the nation to outline the plan, which has received little national attention. MORE »