Mar 012006
Some of you know that for the past couple years, I’ve been working on the implementation of a complex research initiative for the Department of Human Services. A short abstract of Minnesota’s initiative has been posted on the website for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We’ll be ready to actually begin enrolling individuals in a few months, a prospect which is both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. I use Microsoft Project to track the tasks that still need to be completed before we’re up and running; the list has a troubling tendency to sprout new items every week.
I’m also learning a great deal about the inner workings of the state’s publicly funded health care programs. Minnesota offers several more coverage options than most states, which explains why we have relatively fewer numbers of uninsured than other areas of the country. Administering all of these options is a gargantuan task and much of it is invisible to the general public, as it should be.
