With a nudge from Attorney General Lori Swanson, Minnesota lawmakers have launched a preemptive strike on behalf of medical consumers against a developing technology tentatively named medFICO.

If the name sounds like that of the well-known FICO credit-scoring system, there's a reason. It's being developed by a company with backing from Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac Corp. Its future use: compiling individuals' medical payment histories.

The Minnesota bill, awaiting the governor's signature, bars providers from looking at patients' medical debt records until after a doctor is seen. Although medFICO's developers say that it's only a tool to be used after treatment, it's unclear how they could prevent its use to screen prospective patients, possibly even turning them away.

Medical debt is one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy. The foreclosure crisis and a sluggish economy have also put the hurt on many people's credit histories. Swanson and legislators correctly diagnosed the potential for problems and took action to build in safeguards ahead of time.

New role for Sabo It was good to see former U.S. Rep. Martin Olav Sabo named to a prestigious new study of the nation's transportation policy. The Bipartisan Study Center, a recent creation of four former U.S. Senate majority leaders, lists Sabo alongside former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington, former Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia and former U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert of New York as leaders of a study that aims to make recommendations to Congress in 2009. Its charge is to define what changes in national transportation policy are warranted by global warming, changing security needs and rising energy costs.

Taiwan and world health The slow-motion rapprochement of China and Taiwan appeared to pick up pace in March with the election of Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan's Nationalist candidate for president, who urged a more conciliatory relationship with mainland China. Plans are already in place for increased tourism and direct flights. Now would be a good time for both sides to look for ways to keep building a friendly momentum -- such as in allowing greater freedom for journalists from each other's countries.

Representatives of Taiwan have been advocating for the United Nations to admit Taiwan journalists to the World Health Assembly that meets in Geneva this month. If there is any legitimate reason to keep Taiwan out of the World Health Organization, if only with observer status, we don't see it. But the U.N. won't even issue press credentials to Taiwan journalists.

Yes, we get it, there is only one China -- but surely that abstraction is outweighed by the practical benefits of ensuring a free flow of information on world health. The U.N. should relax its stance toward Taiwan, and the government in Beijing should urge that it do so. In the age of SARS, AIDS and avian flu, diplomatic semantics count a distant second.