There are a couple reports from the New York Times that should give us at least a little bit of Christmas cheer. This article discusses how politicians in Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois failed to enact widespread health care "reform" this year. And this article notes that SCHIP will not be expanded any time soon at the federal level. These developments are something of a surprise given the seemingly widespread desire among politicians of both parties to increase government involvement in citizens' health care decisions.

Of course, 2008 is a new year and these battles will continue to rage. But some bad ideas were stopped, even if this is only temporary in some cases. In our line of work, that's a pretty good year.