Change

For John, BLUF:  We are far from understanding the eventual outcome of "Obama Care".

I picked this up off of Drudge.  It seems the Windber (Pennsylvania) Medical Center is giving up birthing children.  I cheated and checked the Press Release (Part 1)♠ and the FAQ at Part 2.  Here we see that the new health care market evolving in the United States is going to have consequences for how health care is experienced.  A physician dies and another moves back home and others change specialties and soon the picture changes.  Here is part of the FAQ:

Based on industry trends and forecasts of reimbursement made under the Affordable Care Act, the practice of obstetrics will be only practical where there is a high volume of deliveries.

The Center had been doing about 200 births a year since getting back in the business in 2005.  This does raise the question of what they were doing before 2005.

Supposedly the French Mathematician Auguste Comte told us "demographics is destiny".  That and the structure of the markets.  We see that playing out in Windber.  I wonder if the "Patient Protection and Affrdabe Care Act" will result in an actual decrease in heath care in more rural areas.

Windber is only eight miles south of Johnstown, where I was born.  As I recall, the town had a Spaghettiville like bridge.♥   Driving south on 56, passing through Scalp Level, you were on the west side of the tracks and then, passing the center of town you made a sharp left under the tracks and then tracked south on the east side of the tracks, toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

I remember my Father telling me Windber was named by flipping the name of the local coal mining operation, owned by Charles and Edward Julius Berwind.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  George Anthes will be happy to see the Board of Directors being prominently named in the decision asking process.
♥  Thanks, Corey Sciuto.