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Gomers:  What’s going wrong

Editorial

The Gazette

November 27, 2006

[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]


  NO RELIEF: The average cost of health insurance for Iowa workers was $146 more than the national average, according to the Mercer Health and Benefit’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. The rate of increase in health-insurance costs was also notably above the national average, rising 7.5 percent compared with the national average of 6.1 percent. According to the report, employers are backing away from the strategy of shifting the cost burden to employees, but there seems to be no end in sight to the rising cost of health care and health insurance.

  COUNT TO 10: The selection process for a new University of Iowa president has been a messy saga, with the state Board of Regents rejecting the four recommended candidates and disbanding the search committee.
 
Nothing but questions have arisen since then, with debate over the diversity and experience of candidates, the hidden motives of some regents and the secrecy of the process, just for starters. A new search process needs inject cooperative spirit into this important decision