Author: mkbhhw

Mike Koetting’s career has been in health care policy and administration. But it has always been on the fringes of politics. His first job out of graduate school was conducting an evaluation of the Illinois Medicaid program for the Illinois Legislative Budget Office. In the following 40 years, he has been a health care provider, a researcher, a teacher, a regulator, a consultant and a payor. The biggest part of his career was 24 years as Vice President of Planning for the University of Chicago Medical Center. He retired from there in 2008, but in 2010 was asked to implement the ACA Medicaid expansion in Illinois, which kept him busy for another 5 years.

So, What Do We Do?

By Mike Koetting      May 17, 2017

This is the last of three posts that were in specific reaction to the movie Hell and High Water.  This one, written after the election, suggests some directions for turning these reactions into strategy. 

By the way, a reader of the last post observed that the movie had no partisan connection.  I absolutely agree.  I would doubt concepts like “Democrat” or “Republican” would ever appear in the minds of any of the movie’s characters.  I use these concepts because (a) they are useful labels for collections of ideas and values that differentiate, even if somewhat messily; and (b) while both parties are in profound disarray, I think it more likely rearrangement will happen within the construct of these parties—rather than the emergence of a new party, as just happened in France. Continue reading “So, What Do We Do?”

Can We Escape the Gridlock?

By Mike Koetting   May 10, 2017

Today’s post follows from last week’s discussion of how Democrats and the White Working Class were no longer getting along, as typified in the movie Hell or High Water.  (Like last week’s post, this essay was written before the actual election.)  It addresses the difficulties of a more inclusive Democratic Party. Continue reading “Can We Escape the Gridlock?”

Between Hell and High Water

By Mike Koetting      May 2, 2017

Below is the first post in my new blog, Between Hell and High Water.  It was actually written in September, 2016, shortly after I saw the move “Hell or High Water”, which obviously is the inspiration for the title of this blog.  As I was watching, I thought: “Uh-oh.  The Democrats are in trouble.”  To be fair, I didn’t see the unraveling going as far as electing Trump.  But I did see a problem. Continue reading “Between Hell and High Water”