User:Mockingbird99/Mike Fallon

Michael Fallon, M.D. (born September 1964) is an American Physician who is currently running as the Republican nominee to represent Colorado's 1st congressional district in the 112th United States Congress.

Early Life and Education
Mike was born in September, 1964 to Barbara and Jim Fallon in an Army hospital in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He has two brothers, T.J. and Sean, and one sister, Beth. His early childhood was spent as a "military brat," moving 15 times.

Mike attended University of Texas at Austin, which he chose because tuition was affordable. He earned an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, a major he chose because UT Austin did not offer premed. He then studied emergency medicine at University of Texas at Houston.

Mike interned at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona and did his residency at Denver General, now known as Denver Health (Denver's "safety net" hospital).

Mike lived with family throughout his education and residency, in order to save money.

Medical Career
After completing his residency, Mike spent 6 years practicing emergency medicine, first in the Atlanta, GA area, and then back in Denver at Exempla Lutheran emergency group.

While at Exempla Lutheran, Mike realized that "there were more affordable and effective ways to care for patients who visited the ER," so he started the first of three urgent care clinics in the Denver Metro area, where he served as "physician, business manager, janitor and snow remover."

In 2008, Mike successfully sold his urgent care clinics and returned to work as an ER Physician. He currently works in several emergency rooms throughout the region.

2010 Race for U.S. Congress
When Mike Fallon decided to challenge incumbent Diana DeGette, for the U.S.House CO-1 seat, he entered into a race that would certainly be daunting for many: a complete political unknown challenging a 16-year incumbent who's party has held the seat for almost 40 years. However, Mike's campaign has steadily picked up momentum and his name is becoming more and more recognizable.

Mike decided to run for office while listening to Dave Logan interview Dianna DeGette on NewsRadio 850 KOA. According to Mike, when asked about the health care bill, DeGette responded with something to the effect of "don't worry if the American Public doesn't want the heath care bill, once they see what we've done for them, they'll really appreciate it."

According to Mike, DeGette was then asked where the funding for the health care bill would come from. According to Mike, DeGette cited an expected five hundred billion dollars in medicare savings.

Mike's thought was, "if there's five hundred billion dollars being wasted in medicare, why haven't you [fixed it] until now ... or is this dishonest? ... so either you're dishonest or you're incompetent, and if you worked for me, I'd fire you." It was at that point that Mike decided he wanted to get involved and volunteer for "the crazy person who would take on Diana DeGette." From there, he says, he "asked too many questions," and ended up running himself.

Like many grassroots political campaigns, Mike's campaign has been characterized by informal "town hall meetings," often held at local pubs, and by "door-to-door" interaction with voters. Mike has received support from many diverse groups, including from some surprising corners, such as Democrats in Park Hill (previously considered "enemy territory" for Republicans) and local gay activists.

Mike made national news when the NRCC upgraded him to "On the Radar" status - the first of three levels in their "Young Guns" Program.

The day after Mike was granted "On the Radar" status, he was interviewed by Mike Rosen. The Mike Rosen show had previously denied a request from Mike's campaign for an interview because they did not think Mike had a chance to win. Now Rosen began the interview by telling listeners that they "ought to know more about Mike Fallon ... because his is a name that I think you'll be hearing in the future."

Mike has received significantly more attention from the media since his upgrade to "On the Radar" status. His opponent, Diana DeGette, is also paying attention. On Sept., 22, DeGette sent an email to supporters, informing them of Mike's "On the Radar" status, and requesting donations, stating that, "We can’t take anything for granted this year."

Health Care
Mike believes that, while the healthcare reform measures "set out to do some good things," such as creating high risk pools, increased access, and increased portability, the problem with the legislation is that it has not been paid for. Mike says the legislation will cost 3, 4, or 5 times more than we were originally told.

Mike says that, "the problem with free care, is it's not free - services cost money and need to be paid for [which is why insurance companies are raising their rates now]." He believes that ultimately the health care legislation will slowly push private entities out of the market - and push the American people toward single payer health care.

Mike would like to remove the anti-trust exemption that health insurance companies currently enjoy, so that true free-market principles can bring down the cost of care. He also believes that entrepreneurial consumer-based medicine (in which he has experience from his background starting urgent care clinics) is part of the answer to our future in health care.

In response to his opponent's praise of the health care bill, Fallon was quoted as saying, “This new health reform bill helps quasi-government based hospitals, emergency rooms and community health centers — these benefits are the positive outcomes of this legislation, but, these centers of care are just a fraction of our entire health system. The news that two clinics at the University of Colorado Hospital will no longer take government insurance plans highlights a larger problem with this legislation. More and more private medical providers will no longer take government insurance plans, thus, reducing the access this bill portends to provide.”

Personal Life
Mike and his wife, Sandy, have two small children, Emma and Sam.