Last week I put in a request for someone at Kos Health Care to write something about the plight of Justen Deal. No one took me up on it. So while I'm not the best person to be covering this, I'll give it a shot and request follow up coverage from people who focus on health care.  

Justen is a Kaiser Permanente HMO cheerleader. I've long regarded him as a stooge and a flak - someone who must be getting paid for constantly spewing Kaiser propaganda. Apparently, though, he's willing to risk his job and put himself through a world of hurt to bring up a severe problem. Justen put his concerns in an email last Friday, and by Monday Kaiser's CIO Cliff Dodd had resigned. At the same time Justen was placed on administrative leave while Kaiser HR schmucks comb through policies to try to find a rule he broke. There is no such rule. Kaiser is retaliating against Justen for putting his concerns in writing.