With the rejection in the Senate Finance Committee of two separate proposals to create a substantial public health insurance option and, instead, the approval of the relatively weak co-op proposal (which the CBO estimates to be unlikely to establish a meaningful presence and will result in only half the budget amount of $6 billion
Public Plan
Bending the Curve Requires Changing the Fuel Mix
By Mark E. Lutes on
Posted in Cost of Health Care
For the last week or so, the health reform public policy debate has been keyed to the Senate HELP Committee’s draft and thus dominated by whether or not the “Exchange” to be employed in access reform should include a “public plan” and, if so, whether such a plan should have the power to access provider…
Delivery System Reform – Will It Happen?
By Doug Hastings on
Posted in Innovations in Health Care Delivery
Although there are some big issues that remain unresolved, such as the "public plan" component, it appears that we will see reform legislation pass in 2009. Drafts of the legislation are being prepared now by various members of Congress and their staffs.
The focus on medical homes, physician hospital organizations and accountable…