Who We Are
Lee Beecher, MD (President)
A tireless advocate for patient education, collaborative patient care, and market-driven health care insurance reform, Lee practices adult and adolescent psychiatry in Saint Louis Park, MN www.leebeechermd.mymedfusion.com and is an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota. He can be reached at leebeecher@aol.com
David Allen
David Allen has worked for more than 30 years as a health care executive and consultant. He is currently Division Director of Behavioral Health Services at Hutchinson (Minnesota) Area Health Care. David is a passionate advocate for a health care system which builds on strong doctor-patient relationships to deliver quality, access and affordability.
Robert Geist, MD.
A retired Saint Paul urologist and leader in the Minnesota Medical community, Bob has researched and developed Minnesota Medical Association (MMA) policy on conflicts of interest for doctors who assume financial risks for health care they do not themselves provide. He has supported medical savings accounts and alternatives to capitated care, with an eye to patient choice of doctor and greater control of insurance systems.
Ted Fritsche, MD.
A practicing ophthalmologist in Marshall, Springfield, and Montevideo Minnesota, Ted seeks to assure access to quality medical care in greater Minnesota. Among many honors and achievements, he was honored by the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology in 2000 with its Outstanding Service Award. Ted is concerned about fairness of payment for Minnesota rural Medicaid managed care programs and access to physicians in rural areas due to managed care restrictions.
Lee Kurisko, MD.
Lee is a practicing radiologist in the Twin Cities. Lee began his career practicing in Thunder Bay, Ontario, but dissatisfaction with the Canadian health system caused him to immigrate to Minnesota.
John Healy, Esq.
A retired attorney, John is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas and the University of Minnesota Law School. He clerked at the Supreme Court of Oregon before joining Oppenheimer, Wolff and Donnelly in St. Paul. John is past president of the Ramsey County Bar Association and the Real Property Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association. John also was a charter member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
Hannelore Brucker, MD.
Hannelore Brucker been in private practice as an allergist for 23 years. She is a Fellow of the ACP, a member of the AAAAI, and a scientific fellow of the ACAAI. She was included in the top doctor list for allergists in the Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine.
Richard J. Morris, MD.
Dr. Morris has been in private practice in the Twin Cities since 1978. He has been in a large multispecialty group, then started his own single-specialty practice in 2001. He prefers the close patient relationships in the smaller, independent practice, and is committed to protecting patient rights that could be affected by political actions at the federal and state levels.
Michael Ainslie, MD
Dr. Ainslie has served as Treasurer, President, and Board Chair of the West Metro Medical Society (Twin Cities Medical Society). He completed six years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota Medical Association (MMA) in 2009. Practicing pediatric endocrinology at the Park Niciollet Clinic in Saint Louis Park, MN, Mike is a staunch patient advocate and proponent of consumer-directed health care and market-based health care insurance. Born in Iowa and raised in Chicago, he’s a proud Minnesota resident since 1977.
Peter Dehnel, MD
A primary care pediatrician in the southwest metro region for the last 25 years, Dr. Dehnel completed medical school training and pediatric residency at the University of Minnesota. He sees patients at All About Children Pediatrics in Eden Prairie www.allaboutchildren.net. As Medical Director for Children’s Physician Network, Pete works with other pediatric clinicians to improve care for children and teens in the Twin Cities area. He is a member of the the Executive Committee of the Twin Cities Medical Society (TCMS), the Administration and Finance Committee of the Minnesota Medical Association (MMA) and the Board of Directors of the Midwest Medical Insurance Company (MMIC). At a national level, Dr. Dehnel serves on the Executive Committee of the Section on Telehealth Care for the American Academy of Pediatrics. He can be reached at 612-813-8098 or peter.dehnel@childrensmn.org.
Ronnell A. Hansen
Dr. Hansen is currently a staff radiologist at St. Paul Radiology P.A. in St. Paul. He applies his technology and physics background to the assessment of new developments in the field of radiology, and provides presentations on state-of-the-art medical imaging to clinical physician colleagues throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Dr. Hansen is an active advocate for the Minnesota physician community and the Immediate Past President of the Twin Cities Medical Society.
Peter Nelson
Peter Nelson is a Policy Fellow with Center of the American Experiment, a Minneapolis-based public policy and educational institution that brings conservative and free market ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing Minnesota and the nation. As a Policy Fellow, he spends most of his time researching and writing on issues related to health care and energy, two of the most regulated sectors in our economy. On health care, Nelson primarily focuses on issues involving insurance regulation, Medicaid, and long-term care. He regularly consults with state policy makers on these issues and contributes commentaries to the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, and other local newspapers across Minnesota. Nelson received his B.A. in economics from Wheaton College and a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School where he was a member of the Minnesota Law Review.
John T. Tyler
An independent insurance agent and expert on high deductible health care insurance policies and medical spending accounts (HSA), John serves as the Offensive Strategy Sub-Committee Chair for the Legislative Committee of the Minnesota Association of Health Underwriters (MAHU). He has helped draft legislation to promote market-based health care insurance reforms which will benefit patients, providers, and third party payers. John helped craft Minnesota legislative bill HF3036 allowing private insurance coverage for MinnesotaCare program enrollees. He is vice president of the Boys and Tyler Financial Group www.boysandtylerfinancial.com and can be reached at johnt@boysandtylerfinancial.com.
Craig Westover
I do not claim expertise as a health care expert except, most importantly, as a patient. I am a student of free market economics. Contrary to what many in the health care professions would like to think, the principles of economics are not suspended when it comes to health care. A high quality and sustainable health care system must have a foundation based on economic principle. Following a career as a freelance writer and communications executive for large corporations and and small businesses, I have been a contributing columnist to the Opinion page of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and written for the Minneapolis StarTribune, and MinnPost. I post at the conservative website True North. I was a Senior Policy Fellow for the Minnesota Free Market Institute until 2009 when I took a leave of absence to do campaign consulting for conservative candidates including Pat Anderson’s campaigns for Governor and State Auditor and Tom Emmer’s gubernatorial campaign. I can be reached at westover4@gmail.com.
Dave Racer
Dave received his Master of Letters Degree from Oxford Graduate School in 2009. His masters’ thesis, “A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO HEALTH CARE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: TWENTY-FIVE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES,” expresses his conviction that successful health care redesign requires integrating a broad array of considerations. Self-employed since 1974, Dave strongly believes free market delivery of health care services will produce the best overall result, both qualitatively and at a more discipline price. Dave is a writer, researcher, publisher, speaker, and teacher, on a wide variety of issues, focusing themes of freedom, liberty, free enterprises, and the founding fathers’ view of the United States Constitution. He has written 25 books; four on health care reform. Dave speaks on health care and insurance reform across the country. His audiences include doctors, professional insurance agents, employers, and private citizens. Dave is the founding President of the Declaration Foundation, and past President of the Constitution Educational Foundation. Dave is a four time endorsed candidate for the Minnesota legislature, and served as the National Campaign Manager for Alan Keyes for President, 1996.