Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

You can’t love your country only when you win.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / I must now cheer for the Patriots of college basketball

I must now cheer for the Patriots of college basketball

by | 239 Comments

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Good morning everyone. Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy has a very important (to me) bio page:

David Anderson

Research Associate, Health Policy Evidence Hub
My primary interests are currently examining Medicare end of life payment reform models and a personal interest in the distributional impacts of different health insurance reform proposals.

Skills:

Insurance network design, benefit configuration, cost-sharing and policy analysis.

That is meat space me.  Richard Mayhew has been a brash alter ego and pen name that I needed to use while I was employed in the insurance industry.  My last day at UPMC Health Plan in Pittsburgh was right before Christmas.  I’ve started at Duke this week.

It has been a strange trip.  This entire process my wife has been chuckling at me.  It is a bit odd.

I write extremely dry/technical material with and for a bunch of snarky liberals with a blue streak.  I’ve written under a pen name for years in a place where the phrase “hookers and blow” routinely shows up as useful shorthand.  This is not the typical career development path of someone who works at one of the world’s best universities.

It’s been a year long journey that still makes my wife shake her ahead in bemusement while I shake my head in amazement.  She was always curious about the “what’s next ” was with my policy writing.    I had been exploring the the “what’s next” for a while.  December 2015 I was speaking with a group in DC that does some really interesting work but they needed something a little different than what I offered.  But that process started the conversation between my wife and I regarding the stay or go decision parameters. We talked, and then we talked some more before talking some more.   We developed a shared understanding of what we needed if we were to leave Pittsburgh.  When Duke started the conversation, we knew our reservation criteria.

So how did this happen?

I had been getting frustrated at work so I tweeted a throw-away tweet:

Anyone hiring a health insurance and health policy nerd — I’m looking

— Richard Mayhew (@bjdickmayhew) October 3, 2016

I expected nothing from this tweet besides a bit of sympathy.  I was wrong.  By dinner time, I had half a dozen good leads.  By the second cup of coffee the following day, I had a dozen leads and my wife looking at me funny.   A few people I thanked after a short conversation while declining further investigation.  A few leads  led to a good meal and excellent conversation but no more.  And then a few were really interesting.

Duke stood out to me.  I was being chased hard and they made everything too easy.  Duke has big projects tackling big problems.   I would have a chance to work with a great team of people on personally and professionally fulfilling projects in a very supportive environment.

Sign me up… and so they did.

At the Margolis Center, I’ll be working with Don Taylor and his team as we tackle end of life and palliative care payment and process reforms for Medicare.  My new job will be to take my industry experience and apply that perspective to system transformation where I can see both the obvious but impractical as well as the non-obvious and productive routes forward from an industry perspective.  I’ll write some at Free for All and at the Margolis Medium channel.  Both of those communication channels will be at a higher level of editing and refinement than Balloon Juice because the audience and intent of the communication is a bit different.

So what does this mean for “Richard Mayhew” now that Dave Anderson is at Duke?

I’ll be negotiating things as I go .  Balloon Juice will still have health policy (and soccer) posts written under the Richard Mayhew pen name as that is where I have some brand equity.  I’ll talk with John and Alain to create a Bio page with the appropriate disclaimers that everything here is my personal views and not those of any employers (current, past, and future).  This as my scratchpad and home of first thoughts as it has been for the past three years.   This is where I see something and start wrestling with it in public.  Sometimes interesting things will emerge from that grappling.  Other times, I’ll fall face first in the mud.  I’m okay with that as it is the process of grappling with an idea and more importantly writing things down to clarify my thinking that has educated me  and I hope has helped some of the community.

I also need to thank everyone here.

First and foremost, I need to thank John for giving me the keys to this place and letting me wander around with whatever I found interesting.   He has done an amazing job of curating a community of eccentrics, curmudgeons, grumps and generally nice people.    I also need to thank Tim F.  I know Tim in real life. He was the person I approached in the summer of 2013 to write here.  I thought I had maybe twenty or thirty posts and maybe 15,000 words in me.  He bugged John to get me the keys and gave me the ground rules — show sympathy to cat pictures and write whatever I wanted.

I need to thank the community here.  I get energy from everyone here.  I get great ideas.  I get ready access to a bunch of experts who are more than willing to share.  I get purpose and meaning.  I take a lot from you all and I try to give back.  You’ve given me a place to publicly work through half formed thoughts and a place to listen to why an idea is idiotic or sounds nice but is impractical.  You’ve given me a lot and I want to thank everyone for that.

I also really need to thank my wife.  She puts up with this hobby.  And when Duke came and made me say “WOW” she was on board with picking our family up to chase some of my dreams.  So I just have to say thank you to my wife as I do the happy dance every morning that I get to spend my life with you.

Reader Interactions

239Comments

  2. 2.

    Cermet

    I agree – “WOW”! But when one is clearly knowledgeable, capable and a real expert it is no surprise they are pursued! So, congratulations and I wish you the best! You certainly had a tremendous grasp of this complex and dry subject!

  3. 3.

    PowerMAD

    Outstanding, and congratulations! Your posts have been both illuminating and helpful – I’m glad you’ll continue to write here. Now, rub my comment and pass on your job-hunting luck to me, please!

  4. 4.

    Baud

    Both of those communication channels will be at a higher level of editing and refinement than Balloon Juice because the audience and intent of the communication is a bit different.

    Hey! We read good.

  7. 7.

    RSR

    Congrats! I thought you were a bit further mid-west; I probably didn’t need to send those PA insurance policy related tweets to you after all. ;)

    Go Tar Heels!

  8. 8.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Woohoo, congratulations. Also yay for us that you will continue to post here. I wish you and your wife all the best.

  9. 9.

    Betty Cracker

    Congrats again on the new gig! May you and your family find the new environs to your liking!

  10. 10.

    ThresherK (tablet)

    Great to hear! This is the place I’ve been getting all my real news on healthcare.

    Add me to the list who have normalized your nym and have to unlearn it.

  11. 11.

    Bighorn Ordovician Dolomite

    Congratulations! Selfishly, I am glad you’ll still write here–your writing here has been very helpful here. In fact, it’s kinda been my go to spot to see past the ruckus in the headlines and actually understand what has been going on in American healthcare reform these last few years!

    Again, congratulations!!!!!!!

  15. 15.

    FarmerG

    Part of me wants to say welcome to NC.

    The other part of me says, damn, now you have to move to NC.

    One more progressive won’t break the GOP camel’s back but it certainly can’t hurt.

    Congratulations!

  18. 18.

    Gin & Tonic

    Congratulations, but you’ll always be Dick to me.

    Anyway, thanks for also making this place the only politics/pets/gardening blog where I’ve come across somebody using the term IBNR.

  19. 19.

    Lounger

    Congratulations and best of luck. What you’ve written here has been so impressive, I can’t wait to see what you’re able to accomplish when you’re able to devote yourself to policy full-time.

  20. 20.

    ShibbyMD

    Richard (or should I say David?), congratulations on your new job. I always learn something new by reading your posts. I hope your new position meets all your expectations.

  21. 21.

    Chris

    Welcome to NC…we need every ally we can get! Ignore the pending snow frenzy going on today…lol..you will see silliness every time a flake falls. I am moving a Wolfpacker and a Tarheel today trying to beat the oncoming snowpocalypse..

  23. 23.

    kindness

    Good for you. Do us a favor and vote for the sane down in N. Carolina. They need the help.

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    So nice when nice things happen to nice people. Congrats, David.

    (also kinda nice to know your real name after all these years :-)

  25. 25.

    MomSense

    Congratulations BJDick! When I saw your tweet awhile back about packing up and moving to a new city I was hoping for something good for you and your family. It sounds Duke is a great place for your family to land.

    Thank you for all your help over the years. We have all tried to pass on what we have learned to family and friends.

  26. 26.

    guachi

    Your health posts don’t usually generate lots of comments, but I think it’s obvious that all of us here learn a lot about health care policy.

    I know I do. I routinely amaze people with what I know and most of it’s cribbed from your posts. So, thank you and good luck.

  27. 27.

    Patricia Kayden

    Huge congrats to you, Richard, on your new job at Duke. Great news to start off a new year.

  29. 29.

    TS

    So many many congratulations. Wonderful to hear some New Year good news and many thanks for explaining the ins and outs of health care and health insurance. Duke is so lucky to have you on board.

  31. 31.

    Yoda Dog

    Congratulations and welcome to NC. As others have said, we very much need all the help we can get here.

    Im excited to attend my first OFA meeting in Wake Forest on the 22nd. I’m anxious to see what they offer in terms of organization and messaging. My new mission in life is to register and help as many North Carolinians vote as possible. But I’m still in the frustrating stage of trying to figure out the best way to pursue my goal, as opposed to actually being out there, taking action right now. Just running out there and knocking on doors alone feels like an ill-advised strategy. I’ve hunted on the internet but I can’t really find a better place to start than OFA, if anyone has any suggestions..

  35. 35.

    Ryan

    Holy smokes, wow! Congratulations, welcome to Duke! I hope you enjoy the Margolis Center, they have some great people working there.

  36. 36.

    hovercraft

    Congrats, I hope you and your family will be happy in your new home.
    Glad you are sticking around.

  37. 37.

    Tom

    Good luck David. Your posts have always been most informative. Glad you are out from under the thumb of UPMC.

  38. 38.

    Hoodie

    Welcome to the Triangle! Durham is a great place and Duke is a great institution, even though Duke BB fans can be insufferable.

  39. 39.

    sherparick1

    Congratulations David/Richard! What a great opportunity. However, I still hate Duke’s men’s basketball and women’s soccer teams:-)

  40. 40.

    Paul in KY

    Congrats on your new job! On the plus side, if you ever receive an ‘indefinite’ suspension, it will probably only be for a day or two…

  44. 44.

    Cara

    Congratulations! I have long known you were a very special blogger in this site and have much appreciated your thoughts and explanations on healthcare. I regularly share your expertise with others and look forward to reading and sharing more as we enter the Twilight Zone

  47. 47.

    Kansi

    Congrats and good luck! So glad Richard won’t be disappearing as I love what you have to say.

  48. 48.

    zhena gogolia

    Congratulations! You are one of the great lights of this blog. Thank you for all you do.

  49. 49.

    AMinNC

    Congrats on the new gig! As a Tarheel alum, I want to sincerely say that you do NOT have to root for the Evil Basketball Empire just because you work there. Durham is a great town, and our state is actually not as insane as our General Assembly would lead you to believe. If you want restaurant or other “what to do/where to go” recs, please feel free to get in touch. Stuff for kids too. Welcome, we’re glad yo have you here!

  50. 50.

    qwerty42

    Congratulations and thankyou, “Richard” (aka “David”) for all you have posted here. Duke should be a great place for you. All best wishes.
    Oh, if you are not into basketball, you might want to get some familiarity with it. The Triangle is kind of a hotbed of it.

  51. 51.

    Alain the site fixer

    Congrats Richard, figured this might be coming babes on your private comment. Please let me know what I can do to help. If you draft your bio, I can replace it later today.

  52. 52.

    Van Buren

    @Baud: Funny, that. I know a David Anderson and he is pretty far right. Has an MFA but somehow believes in the magic of tax cuts for the 1%.

  53. 53.

    jonas

    Awesome, Richard — er, Dave! Thanks for helping to make this one of the smartest places on the web. Maybe at some point you can also become our man on NC politics as well.

  56. 56.

    mattH

    Congradulations!!!! We’ve been so lucky to have you here. It’s helped me turn people in the right direction more than once when it comes to health care choices, and I’m so glad we won’t be completely losing that. Good Luck!

  57. 57.

    Ohio Mom

    What a treat to read good news first thing in the morning — for a change.

    Much happiness to you and your family in your new home!

  58. 58.

    Tim F.

    Ha, UPMC will miss you dearly in the next few years. Likely for the same reason academia looks quite inviting right now. Your intimate knowledge of the dark side of the force will be a tremendous asset for Duke. Congrats and good luck.

  60. 60.

    Elmo

    Congratulations David. But I have a question- when you sent out that tweet, weren’t you worried your current employer would see it??

  62. 62.

    Mathguy

    Congratulations! Please do keep the health policy “hookers and blow” posts coming, along with the soccer pieces. It’s been a pleasure to read both kinds and extraordinarily educational. Much appreciated.

  65. 65.

    Auntie Anne

    Congratulations! Best to you and your family. And a plea to keep posting; I can tell from the comments I am not the only one who learns a lot from your first thoughts on a subject or issue.

  66. 66.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Just so you know there are real things here on this here blog, my real name is Bill.

    ETA OT: Just walked into the kitchen to make my tea and heard running water, looked under the sink and it was pooling with water. Fun, fun, fun at 5am! I resecured a plastic compression fitting in the RO water filter and the leak stopped.

  67. 67.

    Spanky

    Well I’ll be damned.

    First off, congratulations! Ain’t it grand when you find out your strengths are in demand far more than you thought?

    And I had you pegged in CA, or maybe the mid-midwest, like Iowa/Nebraska, based purely on soccer posts. Never in my hometown, although I’m fully aware that healthcare has supplanted steel in that one-industry town.

  71. 71.

    manyakitty

    Mazel tov! It’s wonderful to see the good guys win! Adding to the chorus of those who always read your posts, but rarely comment on them. Also, too, I have referred so many people to this page specifically for the in-depth analysis you provide. Rock on!

  74. 74.

    Juju

    Welcome to NC. If it does snow as predicted, just stay off the roads. Most drivers in NC do not know how to drive in snow and they can be dangerous.

    I didn’t realize there are so many Juicers in NC.

  75. 75.

    japa21

    Congrats. Good luck with your future endeavors. We will need you and others like you in the future.

  76. 76.

    Jerry

    Welcome to North Carolina and more specifically, the Triangle, BJDick. You’re going to love it here.

    If I am allowed to give one piece of advice for you:
    1) Nobody down here gives a shit how you did things up north, how much snow you got up north, and how great everyone up north drives in the snow. Seriously, just don’t say anything about it. All of the other obnoxious Yankees will blather on and on about it, but let them be the assholes. Outside of the mountains, the state allocates, for obvious reasons, about a buck fifty for snow removal, so just grin and bear it when the inevitable 4″ of snow/ice falls and everyone is freaking out.

    As for the soccer scene, the Triangle is a bit of a hotbed for it, so I’m sure that soccer referee you will find many opportunities. The owner of the Railhawks…oops, sorry…FC North Carolina is attempting to upgrade his franchise to an MLS one, but I don’t think he even has a stadium plan as of yet. There is a group down in Charlotte that is also trying to land an MLS team and they at least have a stadium plan.

    Oh, and another piece of advice:
    2) The best barbecue (if you partake) is at the Skylight Inn in Ayden, NC. People may try to argue that, but know this: they are wrong and are not to be trusted on any topic if they get this one so fucking wrong. Ayden is on the other side of Greenville and is worth every second of the 90 minutes that it takes to get there. The Skylight Inn is the most democratic of institutions in that all walks of life can be found in the order line: rich, poor, black, white, brown, male, female, fat, skinny, tall, short, liberal, conservative, you name it, we are all in that line; we *are* that line. Behind the order counter, you can see into the kitchen and two guys, each with two giant meat cleavers, chopping the hell out of some pigs. They get the crispy skin in with the meat so that each bite finds a few bits of that crispy skin and man, it’s fucking wonderful. Oh man, I need to go there for lunch today!

  77. 77.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Elmo: Not too worried for a couple of reasons.

    a) I had pretty decent operational security on the pen name (not great, but enough to survive with plausible deniability)
    b) I had an absolutely amazing boss who works her ass off to make sure that her team is challenged and fulfilled even if that means they need to move on
    c) The next best alternative was me finding another job which I knew I could do fairly quickly in Pittsburgh

  78. 78.

    Highway Rob

    Congratulations! Plus, it may not have been your goal, but your story gave a needed injection of hope for my wife and I with an employment situation we’re dealing with, so thanks for that, as well as for all you do here.

  79. 79.

    satby

    Richard, congratulations to you and all the best to your obviously wonderful wife! I’m also glad you’re still going to post here as your expertise helped me personally navigate the waters when I left the corporate world. Looking forward to your future writings!

  81. 81.

    RobertDSC-Mac Mini

    It has been a strange trip. .

    Given your new employer’s propensity for allowing basketball players to do that, this is pretty funny.

    Congrats and thank you for everything. Your posts have been educational and I have learned a lot.

    /real Patriots fan who won’t root for your employer’s teams no matter what

  82. 82.

    Emma

    Lovely news. Your posts here helped me understand a lot more about medical insurance than I would otherwise. I hope you will throw something our way when there are important news.

  84. 84.

    aimai

    I am so pleased for you and your family! And so proud of you as a blog member! Your posts have been such a godsend–I’ve learned so much from you and have been so happy to “know” you through your work, which has been exemplary. I, too, have begun a new career and a new life and you are making me think that I should take my new life to my old blog and begin blogging it. You just never know where these essays and blog posts will take you! Congratulations!

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    Final score: Duke 1, Pitt 0. Felicitations.

    Is NC far enough into the south that you’ll now have to say insurance instead of insurance?

  88. 88.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @OzarkHillbilly: This was pretty simple, turn the water off, push in compression fitting. After washing the rags that I sopped up the water with, I dumped the waste water and heard more water sounds. The drain to one of the sinks was disconnected(not sure how long it’d been like that), now fixed.

  89. 89.

    HinTN

    Toy vice new meaning to the word mayhem, Mayhew. You’re going to love Duke. I have friends there so it’s easy to testify, both to the virtues of the institution and the community. Pittsburgh is a lot of good culture to leave behind but the triangle had its virtues. BBQ being one. Congratulations!

  92. 92.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Jerry: I have read of the World Famous Skylight Inn. If I ever go back to NC I will definitely be stopping there.

  93. 93.

    geg6

    Congratulations! Well deserved!

    And I simply cannot believe you were here in Pittsburgh and we never had a meet up! We Pittsburgh BJers are the worst at meet ups.

  94. 94.

    Steve

    Congratulations, Richard — err, Dave!
    Speaking as a fellow insurance industry lifer, let me say that you have been my go-to policy nerd ever since you first raised your flag here at BJ.

    While I started my career in health, since then I’ve moved more into the pharmacy world, so I don’t have the nitty gritty view of that space anymore. No worries. I could always count on “Richard” to guide me. That fact that you plan to continue is most welcome.

    Best wishes in your newly cloistered life. Hopefully the graduate assistants and football tickets can take the sting out of losing the hookers and blow.

  95. 95.

    Mary G

    I am amazed that someone with hiring authority at Duke, and apparently at a lot of other places reads Balloon Juice. Congrats, Richard/David. I’m glad you’ll still be writing for us.

  96. 96.

    geg6

    @Spanky:

    I’m fully aware that healthcare has supplanted steel in that one-industry town.

    This is hardly true. Yes, health care is a major industry, but Pittsburgh is not in any way a one-industry town anymore. That is one of the reasons it is so vibrant now.

  97. 97.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    Congratulations on the move, Mayhew. And thanks once again for all of the writing you have done here at Balloon Juice. It has been the single best source of information on Obamacare and health care in general that I have found anywhere. And I’m delighted to hear that you will continue to write here. Looking forward to your expert take as we (presumably) transition from Obamacare to bake sales and tontines.

  98. 98.

    tobie

    Congratulations on your new post! Duke is lucky to have David Anderson and we BJers are thrilled to keep reading Richard Mayhew.

  99. 99.

    karen marie

    @Richard Mayhew: I don’t understand why you’d throw off the protection of the pseudonym and reveal your actual name. Also too, why “Richard Mayhew”? Entirely random or an ancestor?

  100. 100.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @BillinGlendaleCA:My fix would be to put a bowl underneath it. I long ago learned (the hard way) to loath and avoid all things plumbing, ESPECIALLY when it is old/older/existing. I don’t mind running new lines, but EVERY GOLDURNED TIME I touch something that has been there for more than 5 yrs or so, it turns into a complete clusterfluck.

  101. 101.

    Aleta

    Congratulations. Your series of posts, all the information, has astounded me over and over.

  102. 102.

    RSA

    Congratulations! Welcome to the South.

    ETA: Maybe there are enough BJ readers in the Triangle area for a welcoming get-together, if everyone’s game.

  103. 103.

    cosima

    Congratulations & best of luck with the new job & move & life changes.

    It gives me a bit of hope for the future of healthcare to have you on an official policy team/project.

    So nice to read good news on BJ!

  104. 104.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m waiting for the Sears “technician” in that 1-5 window to look at this laundry center. I there news they are letting the girl go at 10 am so there is that.

  107. 107.

    Roger Moore

    This is not the typical career development path of someone who works at one of the world’s best universities.

    That’s why you wound up at Duke instead.

  109. 109.

    Richard Mayhew

    @geg6:
    As you know, Pittsburgh is an amazingly small town once you start running in any specialized circles so I did not want to have a get together and see a colleague or two pop in. i intentionally made sure that I was not hinting that I was in Pittsburgh so that I was not shitting where I was eating. My aim was to give the impression that I lived somewhere near Springfield (which one… you guess) and Shelbyville.

  111. 111.

    Wapiti

    Excellent news, and thanks for all of the posts here. I read most of your health care posts, and comment on very few of them; it’s far enough outside of my experience I can’t even venture an opinion.

  112. 112.

    Lee

    Congratulations!!!

    You really are a valuable asset here and also in general. I have pointed many of my Republican friends to your posts to educate them about the insurance industry and its inner workings and various reforms.

  113. 113.

    Neech

    @Richard Mayhew:

    Congratulations! You know where you’ll be living yet? I’ve been living in the Triangle for 10+ years and I have a couple of friends who are real estate brokers. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the area.

  115. 115.

    Richard Mayhew

    @karen marie: Why Richard Mayhew — Neil Gaiman’s book “Neverwhere” was on my nightstand the day before I started to write here. In that book, a finance industry analyst is sucked into a loosely connected world of myth and demons where he must grope his way forward. I thought that was a good name to steal.

    As for giving up the pen name, I had to do that in order to look for work. I had to marry my actual resume with Richard Mayhew as each one of them is not that bad on paper but together, they look a whole lot better. In the health nerd community my actual name had been out there for a while. I am trying to be transparent as now that I am in an academic setting I don’t need quite as much protection from writing that So and So has a no good very bad idea.

  116. 116.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Congratulations David. If you could get your men’s basketball team to lose, just once in a while, to my Michigan State Spartans I would be much obliged. We can’t seem to beat teams that wear blue from NC…I call it the Blue Curse of Cackalacky.

  117. 117.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Neech: House hunting was on my agenda this weekend until the weather forecast said that DVD hunting and Ikea furniture assembly would be a far better and safer use of my time.

    I will take you up on your offer

  120. 120.

    narya

    Piling on with the congrats! I work at an FQHC (in a Medicaid expansion state), so I have followed your posts with great interest. Every new item that comes out of Camp Runamuck (h/t Charles Pierce) makes me even more terrified for all of the folks who have become insured or who are otherwise tenuously insured–AND for the rest of us, because they seem determined to slash everything. Actual facts–like you provide–are very helpful.

  122. 122.

    Josie

    Congratulations. Your posts have been really helpful to me and my family. So nice you are being recognized for your good work.

  123. 123.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Neech: I may just need to do a pork BBQ tour (the horrors)

    I am looking forward to being in a place where the dominant food culture is not potato based.

  124. 124.

    Neech

    @Richard Mayhew:

    Yeah. Things tend to get a little crazy around here when there’s snow, so that’s a wise choice. I’m about to head out for a meeting, so I’ll shoot you an email this afternoon.

  126. 126.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Neech: thank you… and the snow response is mostly rational once you get out of the mountains. They don’t see a lot of snow so they don’t have a lot of equipment so shut down and wait for a fast melt seems reasonable as hell to me.

  127. 127.

    Blue Galangal

    Congratulations! Your posts are a bright spot among the MANY bright spots here, and I always look forward to them (and occasionally cited them in arguments before I decided that John Cole was right and some people are too stupid to argue with). I hope you have a great time at Duke. I left private industry for the academy some 15 years ago and haven’t regretted it.

  129. 129.

    Barbara

    Congratulations! I lived in the RT for 4 years, including the three years I was a Duke student. I wish you the best and hope you will continue to write here.

  130. 130.

    JCJ

    Wow! Big news indeed! Best wishes in your new gig.

    Any guesses on how long it will take for the Duke arrogance to make you feel you are too good for this lowly blog?

  131. 131.

    PaulW

    Wait.

    You’ve been SILENCE DOGOOD THIS WHOLE TIME???

    Then who did I send that Bill Clinton-autographed copy of “Leaves of Grass” to?!?!

  132. 132.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Congratulations! I wish you and your family a happy and successful move. Please continue the health policy posts if your workload allows. I suspect the GOP will provide plenty grist for the mill.

  133. 133.

    cmorenc

    @Richard Mayhew (aka David):

    See the email I sent you about soccer referee contact info in the Triangle area of NC. That will get you plugged into the folks you need to contact to continue your soccer refereeing avocation here, at club, college, and high school levels.

  134. 134.

    Botsplainer

    Congrats, and two observations:

    1. That vinegar stuff IS NOT BBQ sauce.

    2. If you start crowing about Duke BB wins, you’re gonna get well-deserved pushback.

  135. 135.

    PaulW

    By the by, Richard Mayhew if that IS your real name, you can still root for your college alma mater vs. Duke.

    …

    Just don’t leave your UConn coffee mug out on the kitchen counter for anyone to smash, alright?

  136. 136.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Botsplainer: Honestly, I am looking forward to cheering for the minor league baseball team and the ‘Canes. College basketball has never been a thing for me. I appreciate the effort but I really can’t watch a game for the sole purpose of watching a game to enjoy it. Now if there are half a dozen friends, some fried food and lots of beer, I’ll enjoy a game on in the background but no worries about being a Dukie homer.

    @JCJ: Never, I need a place where I can use “hookers and blow” in a meaningful way.

  137. 137.

    Olivia

    Congratulations! Thanks for giving us a peek into your reality and I am so happy to know that you aren’t abandoning the blog. I have learned so much from you and you have been the best resource to learn about Obamacare. I wish you all the best in your new position.

  140. 140.

    Hildebrand

    Congratulations! As with many here, I agree that your posts have been an utter boon to understanding health care and health insurance policy issues.

  141. 141.

    CaseyL

    You mean they do other stuff at Duke besides sports??
    /kidding

    What a terrific adventure you’re going to have! Your healthcare/insurance posts over the years have been invaluable. You have a gift for taking complicated and complex issues, breaking them down and making them comprehensible. Duke was wise to pursue you and lucky to land you.

    And I’m so happy you’ll be able to keep posting here! Count me among the folks eager to hear about the transition to a completely different region, culture, etc. NC used to be the “sane” Carolina; maybe it can start reclaiming that reputation. At least you’ll be in one of the blue oases :)

    …and since sports is a vital part of life there, will you still have opportunities to referee?

  142. 142.

    RoonieRoo

    Congratulations!!! Of course the nugget I took from it is that we have a good chance of keeping you on the front page, not that I’m selfish or anything. :)

  143. 143.

    AliceBlue

    Congratulations! Welcome to the south–there’s a lot of bad shit here that sometimes makes me want to pack up the car and head north/west/anywhere but here, but there are enough good things that make me stay.

  145. 145.

    Yarrow

    Congratulations! It sounds like a wonderful move for you. The Triangle area is a great area. Hope you and your family love it. Have appreciated your posts here and used them to make good decisions for me and passed them along to friends. Glad you are still going to be able to post here.

  146. 146.

    guachi

    This is Balloon Juice, so where you move needs to take electoral considerations into account, lol. Look at the Congressional Map and move to a marginal Republican seat.

  147. 147.

    errg

    Congratulations! It will be hard to think of you as someone other than Richard Mayhew though… I’m looking forward to seeing your writing under your actual name!

    And it’s great that you will still be posting here as well.

  148. 148.

    J R in WV

    @Richard Mayhew:

    I resemble that remark!

    Confratulations, Dick Dave ! I have several friends who have been fortunate enough to spend time at Duke, either as student or as staff/researcher and so I have a high regard for the potential for excellence there.

    You will do good things there. And actually, if you seriously want editing, MRs J did nearly 40 years in serious writing and editing, as several other published folk somehow hornswoggled into participating in this pack of snarling jackals.

    Richard, the alter ego of a staid policy wonk at a standout research center, who coulda knowed? And Pittsburgh… ya know there was once a relationship between WVU and Pitt… that has gone away in recent years, but when I was a mere tyke, we made our way to Morgantown every year for either the Pitt game or the Penn State (how the mighty are fallen!) game. The signs hanging from every window were strange and incomprehensible to a tiny lad, and slightly embarrassing once I learned the words. But good natured.

    I like Pittburgh, as a town to visit, and we have a few friends there. Do you like the Pipes in the glooming darkness?

    Glad it sounds like you will stay in touch! Again, congratulations! You deserve the change!

    Best of luck in your new town!

    But, really rooting for Duke? Really@? Whatever you gotta do, I guess ;-)

  149. 149.

    Irony Abounds

    To be honest, I never thought you were a Dick. Best of luck with Duke. Just hope Arizona gets a chance to kick Duke’s butt in the NCAA tourney.

  150. 150.

    Jackie Ogburn

    Richard/Dave

    Welcome to Duke! I work at the Sanford School of Public Policy and Don is one of our professors. My daughter when to Pitt, and we enjoyed visiting her there. Durham is smaller, with a similar cost of living, and a good place to live.

  151. 151.

    Jerry

    @Richard Mayhew:

    I may just need to do a pork BBQ tour (the horrors)
    I am looking forward to being in a place where the dominant food culture is not potato based.

    In all seriousness, there is great barbecue all over the state. I even love the Lexington style ‘cue. B’s in Greenville, Wilber’s in Goldsboro, King’s in Kinston (and many, many others that I cannot recall right now) are all great and definitely worth the drive, but Skylight Inn is the best. My favorite in the Triangle is Danny’s, but it’s not NC style barbecue, it’s just smoked meats with their homemade sauces on the side. The one style of barbecue that the Triangle specializes in is really fucking expensive barbecue. Places like the Pit makes decent enough barbecue, but it’s god awfully expensive. We have lots of good beer, though!

    Where are you planning on living? Durham?

  153. 153.

    elm

    Congratulations Richard (and you’ll be Richard to me for some time)! This is some of the best news yet for 2017.

  154. 154.

    Jerry

    @Richard Mayhew:

    …Honestly, I am looking forward to cheering for the minor league baseball team and the ‘Canes….

    I’m a big ol’ Caniac and am always looking for an excuse to go to a game, so if you want to go and want the company of a person you’ve never met before, let me know. They’ve missed the playoffs every season since 2009, so tickets on the secondary market are usually plentiful and cheap. You could even buy the cheapest seat and then move to another section once the game gets going.

  155. 155.

    Roger Moore

    @karen marie:

    I don’t understand why you’d throw off the protection of the pseudonym and reveal your actual name.

    The protection isn’t much now, given that his current employer hired him under his pseudonym.

  157. 157.

    ruemara

    Just toss in my congrats into the ring. I’m glad your wonderful writing on health insurance and policy here has reaped real world rewards.

  158. 158.

    elm

    @Roger Moore: Additionally he’s done a lot of insightful writing under the pen name Richard Mayhew and deserves credit for that for his new identity as well. I’m pretty sure “David Anderson” is yet another pseudonym.

  159. 159.

    middlelee

    Good on you! I have learned so much from your posts and appreciate so much that you came along to help us understand the ACA. Not that I understand in depth, mind you. Too big a subject and so glad you know it so well.
    Enjoy your new digs.

  162. 162.

    Pedro the Illegal Alien

    On the plus side this frees up the hardest working guy in the blogging business to post more pictures of his cats.

  164. 164.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    @Bighorn Ordovician Dolomite: I detect the damp smell of cave from your nym.

    I love caves too.

    The smell of damp rock, the crystals and gleaming deposits of colored stone… the feeling of being somewhere ancient where most people will never pass.

  166. 166.

    frosty

    Congratulations, particularly on making the move work with the family – that can be a difficult thing to do. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    PS Since my parents spent their last years in Chapel Hill…. Go Tarheels!!!!

  168. 168.

    newdealfarmgrrrlll

    WOW! I’ll add my congratulations to those from folks who always read your posts but rarely comment.

    You have a rare gift for writing about a complex and boring-to-many subject. Thanks to your many posts on the ACA I was able to navigate through Minnesota’s exchange after my layoff in 2014, and had a heads-up regarding Preferred One bailing from the exchange at the end of 2014. The ACA was a godsend to me—I suffered immense sticker shock when I turned sixty-five last August and my insurance costs tripled under Medicare. But, with Medicare i won’t be struggling through paying off deductibles on a limited income.

    I look forward to your continuing presence here at Balloon Juice, and wish you and your family the very best with your upcoming move!

  169. 169.

    sheila in nc

    Hi, congratulations and welcome to NC! Longtime lurker but love your posts like so many here. I live in Chapel Hill; there are lots of folks in my neighborhood who work at Duke but live in Chapel Hill because of the great public schools.
    And yes, a BBQ tour is a fine idea. One of the best local places is Allen and Son BBQ (there’s one north of CH and one in Pittsboro.) But takeout is best because they don’t serve beer.
    Unfortunately you won’t be in a position to optimize your legislative district positioning yet; we have to undergo a court-ordered redistricting. No worries for CH, it will stay VERY blue.

  170. 170.

    PaulW

    @Richard Mayhew:

    SO?! You gotta be true to your school!

    Okay, I admit I went to D-1 places like U of Florida and then South Florida, but every game that’s on the line I’m all GO GATORS and GO BULLS. And in the few times those school face each other? …I root for South Florida ’cause they’re usually the underdog, so…

  172. 172.

    walden

    Congrats on move. Didn’t realize that western PA had become a soccer hotbed, not just home of quarterbacks and linebackers…..
    Recognized the pseudonym — but never saw Neil Gaiman angle in your posts (or is healthcare just as dangerous and filled with mythic figures as the London underground?)

  173. 173.

    baquist

    Congratulations! I’m selfishly glad you’ll be staying – I’ve learnt a lot from your grappling.

  174. 174.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @J R in WV: I don’t do much caving anymore. I really miss the smell, there is nothing else like it. Caving was very good to me. I saw and mapped more than my share of virgin passage.

  175. 175.

    Suzanne

    Congratulations, “Richard”! Glad to hear that your 2017 is beginning with a move to greener pastures!

  176. 176.

    SFAW

    “Richard”/David –
    Congratulations!

    Although I have read far-too-few of your insurance-related posts, I deeply appreciate all your hard work on that stuff.

    Best wishes for tons of success.

  179. 179.

    Richard Mayhew

    @cmorenc: I’ve already started the process of getting in touch with assignors. Slowly transferring my registration from PA West to NC. I’m still trying to figure out just how much soccer I want to do. I know I want to do some, just not sure how much.

  183. 183.

    Shantanu Saha

    Congratulations!

    Now, I’m going to ask a question that’s been on my mind ever since I first read your work here at BJ: where did you get the pseudonym “Richard Mayhew” from? I guess I’ll have to preface that by saying that I first read your work shortly after reading Neil Gaiman’s novel Neverwhere the protagonist of which was named… Richard Mayhew.

  184. 184.

    Steve LaBonne

    Fan-damn-tastic, congratulations! And speaking as a borderline old person (61), with a wife who has volunteered at and worked for hospices, you will be working in an area that is very important to me.

  185. 185.

    Enzymer

    Welcome to Durham. I highly recommend the town, lots of diversity with a live & let live attitude.

    Backyard BBQ pit is my local favorite. The Pit in my neighborhood is good, but just not as good.

    Some really good Mexican food here too.

  186. 186.

    Another Scott

    Neato! It’s great to see your talent recognized and appreciated in your field. Thanks for the low-down.

    Best of luck going forward!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  187. 187.

    David Hunt

    @Richard Mayhew: I picked up Neverwhere for the first time a couple of months back and just about the first thought I had was “Did the Richard Mayhew from Balloon Juice get his name from here?” Nice to know that I was right. Good Luck with life out in the light, David/Richard.

  188. 188.

    Mike E

    Kudos & congrats… keep our new fighting governor in your thoughts and prayers while he sets off to slay dragons over the next few years! Who knows, he might cite your work when taking on our TEA legis

  191. 191.

    Humboldtblue

    Simply amazing and a helluva a nice break from the news, this is actually good goddamned news. I still don’t understand 90% of what you write but you seem to like so there’s that.

  192. 192.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Shantanu Saha: Bingo — Neverwhere was on my bedside table the night before I started writing for Balloon Juice and I thought Insurance Below was going to be a nice take/homage to a good book

  193. 193.

    karen marie

    @Richard Mayhew: Aha – I’ve read Neverwhere but it was my least favorite Gaiman novel, accounting for my lack of recognition. Your explanation should have been obvious without being told. Thanks for explaining.

    Best of luck!

  194. 194.

    SFAW

    @Gin & Tonic:

    That belongs to a different school, IIRC.

    Indeed it does. You from there?

    In any event, I was just setting a marker/drawing a line/pick your cliche vis-a-vis those pretenders on the Left Coast.

    ETA: And, to be clear, the “owner” of that cheer is not exactly a voc-tech, although Roger Moore may try to claim otherwise.

  196. 196.

    BGinCHI

    Really late to this thread (sinus infection), but congrats Richard. Well-earned. Glad you’re staying around.

    But please, no Duke b-ball posts.

  197. 197.

    Kathleen

    Congratulations Richard. So nice to see good things happening. to a good, smart decent person. Even in these scary times. Good for you.

  201. 201.

    Reef

    Congrats! Just a lurker here, but wanted to say that you have been my source of info to debate various healthcare issues with my wife. She has been an exec in healthcare IT for about 20 years and always has a very pessimistic slant on things, especially Obamacare. Your posts have been instrumental on being able to push back on her views and even change her mind on a few things. Thanks and sounds like you landed in a great spot!

  203. 203.

    J.

    Congratulations, Dave! Though I am somewhat disappointed to learn you aren’t a real Dick. ;-) Duke is fortunate to have you.

  204. 204.

    burnspbesq

    Pittsburgh misses you so much, it’s sending you a blizzard.

    Be advised, nobody in Durham knows how to drive in the snow.

  205. 205.

    xjmueller

    Congrats! Please don’t hang up your soccer shoes. I LOVE those posts. The health care ones are good too.

  206. 206.

    Nelle

    My hearty congratulations! I’m a lurker, not much commenting, but I owe you great thanks for the education that you’ve given to me and others. Pleased to have known you when….

  207. 207.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Congratulations. It breaks my virtual heart that you’ll be a Dookie, but I continue to appreciate your (very informative) posts immensely. I also hope you will continue the “You be the Referee” series.

  208. 208.

    Barbara

    @Richard Mayhew: You don’t really need to worry about being a Duke basketball fan. It’s almost impossible to get tickets and others will be relieved if you make it clear that you aren’t competing for them. I hope it is still the case that, while the team might seem annoying, players adhered to a standard of behavior that avoided the most infuriating types of college athletic scandals, e.g., violence against other students.

  209. 209.

    StringOnAStick

    Such good news! Of the new and well deserved job and that you’ll continue to gift us with your incredibly informative writing! I can’t say enough about how well informed you’ve kept us; I would hear news stories and have to yell back at the radio because I was better informed than they were, and that was all thanks to you.

    It gave me hope that someone as liberal as you was working in the belly of the insurance beast, and I’m even more hopeful now that your skills will have a broader reach through your new position. Congratulations, from the bottom of my heart. I hope your wonderful wife and child enjoy their new home, NC is lucky to have you all, or ya’all, as the case may be.

  210. 210.

    Bodacious

    Wow-zer!!!! That is so cool! As a person whose father visited that first class smorgasbord of end of life expenses, racking up 5x lifetime health costs over the last year of life, and a mother of a physician doing palliative care work, THIS IS WHAT WE NEED!!! So excited you’ll be part of the solution…I have faith in you!

  211. 211.

    ? Martin

    Huge congrats David. We’re definitively going to need your policy expertise being more widely shared. good move, and Duke is indeed a great university.

  212. 212.

    lurker dean

    Congratulations, the field will be better with you in it! Always appreciated your insight and am glad to hear you will still be posting.

  213. 213.

    Seth Owen

    Congratulations.

    Like everybody else, I have found your posts extremely informative and I hope we will keep seeing them.

    Good luck!

  216. 216.

    Formica

    @Richard Mayhew: another longtime lurker decloaking to offer my congratulations. I have learned more about the mechanics and reality of health insurance from your posts than any other source. You made the topic eminently accessible to non healthcare wonks, and armed me for many a heated discussion with facts and explanations I would otherwise have never understood. I’ve recommended “Mayhew on Insurance” to a lot of folks who showed interest in the topic over the years. Good luck in NC and, as others have stated, I’m selfishly very pleased you’ll continue to post here.

  217. 217.

    cursorial

    Another congratulations from a lurker. I’ve really enjoyed your posts; the combination of detailed, nuts-and-bolts explanation still accessible to someone not in the industry isn’t something I’ve found anywhere else. Glad to see you able to apply your skills in a really interesting problem space, good luck!

  218. 218.

    Richard Mayhew

    @Roger Moore: Yep, Pittsburgh is sticky. When I got there, I never thought I would have stayed there for as long as I did but things just kept happening that made staying very attractive.

  219. 219.

    Mnemosyne

    West Coaster, so late to the party, but congratulations! ???

    Name vs nym is always a tough choice online.

  220. 220.

    The Lodger

    Working on West Coast time here, adding my heartfelt congratulations! Most of what I think I understand about health insurance comes from your BJ posts, and I’m overjoyed that the new employer read them too! Best to you and enjoy NC.

  221. 221.

    Chazbet

    Congratulations, As a Duke alum, I hope you’ll be influenced by the relative indifference of the faculty and student body to sportsgame and focus on your policy analysis and research.

  222. 222.

    Miss Bianca

    Congratulations!

    Now I’m going to start wondering if you were the David Anderson I knew long, long ago in Detroit, but…nah! : )

    Can we still call you “Richard”?

  223. 223.

    stinger

    Congratulations! Happy for you, and happy for myself that you’ll continue to post here–I enjoy both the insurance and the soccer topics!

  226. 226.

    sharl

    Congrats Richard/David! There aren’t any well deserved accolades I can add that haven’t already been posted upthread. I’m glad you’ll still be posting here.
    My best wishes for success and contentment in your new job and location!

  227. 227.

    Kelly

    Congratulations and Best Wishes!

    Your writing here has always been my best resource to understand the twists and turns of health policy. It’s great to be pursued to do a job you want. The academic environment should be great growth opportunity and some interesting co-workers. I’ll definitely follow you and your colleagues at the new place.

    Thanks!

  228. 228.

    Roger Moore

    @SFAW:

    And, to be clear, the “owner” of that cheer is not exactly a voc-tech, although Roger Moore may try to claim otherwise.

    That Other Institute of Technology is not a voc-tech school; they just aren’t as good as they like to think.

  229. 229.

    Lizzy L

    Congratulations! I wish you all the best in the new job — and I’m very glad that you will continue to post at BJ. Your posts have been tremendously informative. Enjoy the BBQ!

  230. 230.

    Avery Greynold

    Duke managed an end-of-life medical arc in my family 5 yrs ago. I’m glad their great people will have you shaping their future work.

  231. 231.

    cmorenc

    @Richard Mayhew: Mark Kadlecik would be the best place for you to start, since although he is the area’s high school assignor, he is plugged in at high levels to club and college soccer as well. Plus, he lives in Durham and is the A.D. at the Durham School of the Arts, and so it should be easy for you to meet with him at some convenient point. He was an MLS center referee for a couple of years, and still is a 4th official there, but has stepped back a level – but is occasionally CR for some big-time local Division 1 games. Kind of an “energizer bunny” high-wattage personality. Excellent teacher of the art of refereeing.

  232. 232.

    cmorenc

    I’ve just gone through a Medicare-supported end of life scenario with my recently late mother during the month of her final hospitalization and decline back at her apartment under hospice + 24-hour CNA care (we had to pick up the CNA costs for 2.5 weeks -Yeeeow!) $20/hr x 24 hrs x 17 days adds up very quickly!) But medicare picked up the hospice service and hospital costs, without which the expense would have been crushing rather than merely straining, but doable for a limited number of weeks.

  233. 233.

    Jacel

    Congratulations! Glad your day job will be more like your hobby has been. Your explanations of insurance are some of the clearest I’ve seen of any difficult subject, and I’m a recently retired technical writer.

  236. 236.

    mike shupp

    Well damn! A blogger makes good in real life, totally demolishing my views of what was possible in this world.
    I’m amazed, but in a good and happy way. Congratulations, and thanks for the work you’ve done here, and for the work that lies ahead.

  237. 237.

    KithKanan

    As usual I’m late to the party, but… congratulations Richard/David on the new job!

    I don’t remember exactly why, but for some reason I thought you were in Dallas.

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