Few public policy topics are as important — and as mind-numbingly complex — as health insurance regulation. But Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, its supporters and detractors have tried to keep things lively over the years. And they’re at it again. Gov. Rick Snyder surprised many in the State Capitol on Sept. 11 when […]
Rick Haglund
Rick Haglund has had a distinguished career covering Michigan business, economics and government at newspapers throughout the state. Most recently, at Booth Newspapers he wrote a statewide business column and was one of only three such columnists in Michigan. He also covered the auto industry and Michigan’s economy extensively.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Uncertainty surrounds future of Blues’ Medigap coverage
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan says Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed overhaul of how the insurer is regulated will lead to better, more affordable health care for Michigan residents. But one group that could eventually see much higher rates for coverage is senior citizens who buy Blue Cross Medicare supplement policies, known as Medigap coverage. […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Large employers help cities keep good company
Most large Michigan cities owe their economic successes — and downfalls — to an astounding number of entrepreneurs who turned their businesses into major corporations. Detroit was the Silicon Valley of its day, as Henry Ford and dozens of his competitors put America on wheels in the early 20th century. Dr. William Upjohn founded the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Dow and Midland: It's just good chemistry
Midland’s key ingredient to its long-term economic success can be summed up in one word: Dow. The Dow Chemical Co. has had an outsized impact on this handsome, prosperous mid-Michigan community of about 42,000 since Canadian immigrant Herbert Henry Dow arrived in 1890 and started manufacturing bleach. Dow Chemical’s influence can be seen throughout the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Battle Creek merger kept Kellogg popping
Battle Creek is unequivocally the “Cereal City.” But relations between the city and Kellogg Co. — its largest employer — haven’t always been as sweet as a bowl of Froot Loops. In the early 1980s, Kellogg threatened to pack up its cereal boxes and leave town unless the city and Battle Creek Township merged. didn’t […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Motor City rolls on to tech, health care
Detroit has long been known as the Motor City. Don’t trying telling city officials that it isn’t anymore. Much of the city’s automotive production left long ago, as manufacturers and suppliers moved operations to lower-cost southern states. But Detroit officials will quickly remind you of significant auto operations that are still here — and are, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Dutch titans left their mark on West Michigan
Rich DeVos and the late Jay Van Andel were known as the “gold dust twins” as they built Amway, the direct-selling consumer products giant they founded in 1959 near Grand Rapids. They spread a lot of that gold around West Michigan to support the construction of hospitals, sports and entertainment facilities, research institutions and many […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Taxpayers on hook for 'captures' gone wrong
They collect taxes. They borrow money. They pay interest on their loans. They spend money on public improvements to entice businesses to locate in specific areas. And they may have the most bureaucratic of names ever coined: tax increment financing authorities. In Michigan’s capital city, a TIFA allowed the city to bulldoze porn shops, build […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Forecasting a slower, pricier car industry
Cars might cost $50,000 on average by 2025. Vehicle sales in the United States may never bounce back to the levels of a decade ago. And electric vehicles aren’t likely to catch on with consumers for years, if at all. So says Sean McAlinden, executive vice president of research and chief economist at the Center […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Detroit span connects state to can-do past
An effort by Gov. Rick Snyder and the Canadian government to build a $2 billion bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor may provide an answer to a burning question about infrastructure: Can a huge public works project still be built in an era of Tea Party politics, spending-adverse lawmakers and widespread disdain for government? It’s been […]