Round political pin with green background and yellow border. The pin reads in yellow, "BONEHEADS for Health Care Reform". There is an arc of yellow stars above the words and around the border.
Context
The pin was created in response to a squabble between Gov. Howard Dean and Republicans in the Legislature in 2000 over how to address the shift of the cost of Medicaid to private insurance when Medicaid reimbursements were low. Dean called a move by Republican lawmakers to increase Medicaid payments to hospitals "bone-headed" because he said his administration was in the midst of talks about how to address the issue. Some lawmakers started wearing this pin in the Statehouse. Dean argued he wouldn't consider increasing Medicaid payments unless health care providers agreed to some cost-control measures.
