The mid-term elections, repeal and unkind cuts

"Aron Ralston is back. Remember him? He's the outdoorsman who amputated his own right arm seven years ago after getting it lodged in a rock formation during a Utah hiking expedition," writes FierceHealthFinance Editor Ron Shinkman. Ralston reminds Shinkman of a time in his life when he edited a spoof of the Wall Street Journal called The Walnut, which once reported that Ralston had nabbed a fat endorsement deal from the National Association of Managed Care Organizations. NAMCO had hired Ralston because it had estimated that Americans would save $12 billion a year if they operated on themselves. Ralston made a perfect spokesman for such a cause. Of course, that's all fictitious. However, the horrible mischief was not. Shinkman fears it has returned with the outcome of last week's mid-term elections, accompanied by far more power and far less of a sense of humor. -- Read the full commentary in FierceHealthFinance