Today’s Washington Post has an interesting story that takes a more skeptical look at the Mayo Clinic model that is so often cited by President Obama and others as an example of where our health care system should be headed.

Is the secret of Mayo’s success the way it practices medicine, or its relatively upscale patients and the fact that it can shift some of its costs onto people who can afford to pay full freight? The story gives us arguments and evidence on both sides, and raises questions as to whether it’s really possible to duplicate the Mayo Model’s success elsewhere. It also points out that Mayo is rapidly becoming a big political player, with a financial interest in the outcome of the health care debate.: