STATE HOUSE — In a National Governors Association compact released Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker and 42 other governors agreed on a number of steps, including some already underway in Massachusetts, to reduce addiction to opioids.
The compact calls for governors to require medical training on addiction, integrate data from prescription monitoring programs into electronic health records, and craft the Medicaid insurance program so it promotes alternative pain management.
When U.S. economic leaders gathered in April 2000 to celebrate ten years of prosperity, Alan Greenspan announced that they had figured out the model for success. "I do not believe we can go wrong," he said. Well, he was wrong.
After that meeting, the economy was hit with two recessions, the largest financial crisis in 75 years, weak growth and a decrease in median household income. As the book The Big Short provocatively details, several people saw it coming, but no one listened.
