Kurt Harden...................

.................spoke to the Newark Rotary club yesterday.  The topic: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Kurt is president and COO of MedBen, so to say this topic is near and dear to his heart would be an understatement.  As we might expect, Kurt has posted his presentation on-line.  You can find, and download, it here.  Your faithful correspondent failed to take notes, but here is how I would summarize Kurt's excellent talk:

-PPACA was sold on the premise of reducing costs and increasing access.  It will accomplish neither.
-While the law runs some 2,300 pages, the rules and regulations spawned by the law already consume exponentially more paper (see Slide #7), and they are nowhere near finished.
-It will take longer than planned for full implementation.
-The system emerging from the regulations will need tweaked.
-What you think you know about the system today, may be incorrect a year from now.
-Actuarially and demographically, us baby boomers will be gumming up the works.  We will become known as "the most expensive generation."
-The best (only?)  hope for reducing health care costs lies in technological advances (See Slide #20).
-Keep your sense of humor.