Guest blogging from the Attorney General

By Attorney General Dustin McDaniel

It is a beautiful, although cold, day in Washington, DC. I am here for the day because Governor Bredesen of Tennessee and Governor Douglas of Vermont have appointed me to fill the attorney general seat on the National Governors’ Association’s State Alliance on e-Health Care. That’s a mouthful, but it is a top level group addressing all of the opportunities and challenges presented by technology in the health care arena. I worked on public health issues when you and I served in the House together and have created (as promised) a health care bureau in my office. Mine is only the 11th AG’s office in America to provide that service, and it is a huge success so far. I am proud to represent the nation’s attorneys general and Arkansas in this effort. There are great opportunities to take advantage of technology to the benefit of taxpayers and patients like. I met with experts from ACHI, UAMS, and more before I came to this meeting. The People of Arkansas should know that we are ahead of the curve in many ways. I’ll be bringing lots of ideas (and work) back to the legislature and the Governor on this issue.

Also, I want to thank Senator Lincoln. She has graciously arranged for me to attend President Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress tonight. Technically, it is not a State of the Union address. The outgoing President has that privilege. Several have done so in person, in writing or not at all. We know that President Bush didn’t give a State of the Union this year, but I don’t know if he sent remarks to Congress in written form. Nonetheless, I am very excited about being there tonight, and I appreciate Senator Lincoln giving me the opportunity.

This is only my second effort at blogging, and both were on your blog. Thanks, Steve, for your friendship, excellent service and extraordinary efforts to keep the people of Arkansas in the loop on their state government.

Sincerely,

Dustin