Declarations

Insurance-Free Practice

“Ninety-nine percent of other doctors said, ‘I don’t blame you.’ … One hundred percent said, ‘You are crazy.”‘

— Dr. Todd Johnson of Lincoln, Neb., on the reaction of his colleagues to his opening the first membership-based, insurance-free medical practice in Nebraska. His fees are age-based – $50 a month for younger adults, $75 for middle-aged adults and $100 for seniors. There are no co-pays, no deductibles and unlimited consultations and office visits at his Access Family Medicine practice. Added plus: no insurance paperwork.

Children and Guns

“People are much more likely to hurt themselves or other members of their family if they have a gun in the home than they are to injure or stop some intruder.”

— Texas Children’s Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. David Wesson, who has expressed concern about the number of children who are victims of gun accidents annually. The Houston Chronicle reports that in Texas’ Harris County an average of 27 children a year were killed in gun accidents from 2011 through 2014.

Whistleblower Pilot

“The ultimate goal is to bring about quicker resolution for whistleblowers and their employers regarding claims of retaliation for reporting safety and other concerns on the job.”

— Barbara Goto, OSHA’s regional administrator in San Francisco, praised a pilot program by the U.S. Department of Labor in its Western region called the “Expedited Case Processing Pilot,” which enables a complainant covered by certain statutes to ask OSHA to cease its investigation and issue findings for the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges to consider.

No Mosquito Zone

“Between our efforts and the county’s spraying efforts, the last thing I’d ever want to be on Miami Beach is a mosquito.”

— Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, speaking of the city’s efforts combatting the spread of Zika virus in the area. As of Aug. 23, five new cases of the virus had been found in the state, including in the Tampa Bay area.