Going to the doctor can be a drag. It’s an even bigger drag when there’s a waiting list and you have to sit at home, sick, so delirious that you’re chatting up your poster of Tom Brady.

While Massachusetts health care reform has been successful in reducing the number of uninsured citizens by nearly half, it seems all the newly insured patients in waiting may be putting a great deal of pressure on the state’s primary care industry, leaving one clinic with a waiting list of 150-200.

The reform initiatives are also reported to be way over budget to the tune of $150 million.

The National Center for Policy Analysis has details and commentary.

UPDATE: It seems Canadians may be feeling a similar pinch these days.

Our Breakfast with Brinegar program will make the trip north on I-65 to visit our Tippecanoe County members on Tuesday, July 8, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber, will discuss Chamber programs and services and you will have an opportunity to network with other local Indiana Chamber members. Dr. France Cordova, president of Purdue University, will kick off our breakfast. A Q&A session will be held for Kevin, as well. 

We considered hosting the event inside of the world’s largest drum; however, we decided to choose the Holiday Inn Select City Centre for acoustic purposes. We hope to see our members from surrounding communities, like Crawfordsville, Delphi and Frankfort.
 
The breakfast is free for Indiana Chamber members and $19 for non-members. Please contact Abby Hamilton at (317) 264-3793 or ahamilton@indianachamber.com to RSVP.
 
I was hoping I could offer a set of game-used Brian Cardinal knee pads as a door prize, but I haven’t had any luck to date.

I recently had the opportunity to meet Inside INdiana Business Host Gerry Dick, which highlighted yet another enjoyable and insightful week on the job. I saw him when fellow intern Hannah and I tagged along with VP of Communications Tom Schuman to the recording of a TV interview he conducted at WFYI.

It marked one of the last duties Tom will have for a while, as he took off for sunny California earlier this week to spend some much deserved vacation time with his family.  Before he left, he talked to everyone in our department to go over what we should be doing until he returns.

It’s funny; I don’t remember roller-chair rallies or office twister being on the list.

Seriously though, it looks like I’m more or less in charge of myself now that Tom, who was more or less in charge of me, happens to be 1947.3 miles away (more or less).

Now, my mother will tell you that I do possess a mischievous streak. She’s gotten rather good at deploying the “don’t even think about it” look when she can see my wheels turning (nonverbal communication at its best), but while I might be a handful at home from time to time, I know that the workplace is obviously a place for work.

Apparently, this opinion isn’t very popular among many Hoosiers, who waste more hours per day (2.8) than employees in every other state besides Missouri. This was found in a study by America Online and Salary.com, which also shows that Indiana loses $25.1 billion in wasted-time salary a year. 

If you’re reading this, Tom, you can be rest assured that your employees are not contributing to Indiana’s abysmal work behavior. Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I’m next in line for the slip n’ slide.

It seems the price of everything is going up and up.  The Chamber offers a variety of ways to stem this rising tide.  Take advantage of the special discounts available as a member of the Indiana Chamber.  Anthem, Enterprise, Office Max, and TruPay are consistently recognized as leaders in their areas of service.  With Indiana Chamber membership, you can save up to:

* 5% on health care insurance with Anthem, a national leader in the insurance industry.

* 10% on car rentals with Enterprise, the largest rental car company in North America. 

* 20% on paycheck services with TruPay, an Indiana-based company is located in Mishawaka.

* 60% on office supplies and printing with Office Max, a leader in both business-to-business office solutions and products.

With no enrollment fees or purchasing quotas, you can save big when you choose to use Indiana Chamber discount programs.  Just visit our web site for more information.

Utilizing the discounts offered with your Indiana Chamber membership, the average member has realized savings of $20,565.
 

Thanks to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 13th Floor for this charming little tale about a state’s mental health report, and another state’s mental health report that looks eerily similar.

Basically, Georgia cheated off of Michigan’s paper, but Georgia likely felt entitled as Michigan always gets the window seat on the bus.

If you’re like me, flying is arduous work. For this observer, the pain lies in the stress of trying to make a flight, hoping it’s not delayed once I get there, all the while wondering what kind of halitosis factory I’ll have to sit next to for the next three hours.

However, the airport experience itself doesn’t have to be that bad. I’m currently in the process of scheduling an interview for our September/October edition of BizVoice, in which I’ll feature the new airport terminal in Indianapolis. Should be a very interesting interview and I’m looking forward to learning about all the new amenities and how it will benefit businesses in the state.

I also came across this interesting piece by economic development columnist William Fulton in which he explains a potential evolution into "new urbanist" airports that also serve as business centers.

Do young people take more risks?

Perhaps they’re more daring when it comes to trying organic cuisine, implementing an aggressive 401(k) investment strategy, or listening to that dangerous and provocative Elvis Presley "rock and roll" music, as they call it.

But when it comes to their first jobs, a new survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) indicates security and opportunity for advancement are top priorities. In fact, security ranks well above opportunities to pursue personal development and display creativity. Also of note, the students weren’t too concerned about the company taking an active role in the community.

Edwin L. Koc writes in the May 2008 NACE Journal:

"The fact that ‘company takes an active role in the community’ finishes 13th out of 15 in terms of importance is especially interesting because so much has been made of this generation’s community consciousness."

and

"The fact that financial security is the hallmark characteristic of this year’s graduating college seniors is frankly surprising. Most of the students in this generation come from families that would generally be viewed as relatively well-off."

To view the survey results, click here.