Backgrounder posted August 19, 2010 by Gregg Girvan
Consumer Power: 5 Lessons from Utah’s Heath Care Reform
Abstract: Obamacare is on the march, and state policymakers must decide by 2014 how they will respond to this encroachment on states’ rights to control their own health insurance markets. The state of Utah has been on the reform path since 2005. With its system of defined contributions (as opposed to the standard defined benefits), a functioning health insurance exchange,…
Backgrounder posted July 30, 2010 by Gregg Girvan
Utah’s Defined-Contribution Option: Patient-Centered Health Care
Abstract: Americans who receive health insurance through their jobs generally have little flexibility: 86 percent of employers in the country offer only one plan. This system of “defined benefits” has worked well for expanding group coverage, but severely limits options for individuals, and has not kept costs from skyrocketing. Recipients of employer-sponsored health…
Backgrounder posted April 9, 2010 by Edmund F. Haislmaier
State Health Care Reform: An Update on Utah's Reform
Abstract:
In sharp contrast to the recently enacted federal health care reform, Utah is taking a targeted approach to expanding coverage while moving the system in a more patient-centered direction. Utah's approach promises to increase the number of employers offering insurance, reduce the number of uninsured, provide true coverage portability, increase…
Backgrounder posted May 14, 2008 by Dan Lips, Evan Feinberg
Improving Education in the Nation's Capital: Expanding School Choice
The District of Columbia is home to one of the nation's most troubled public school systems. The District spends $14,400 for every child in public school—well above the national average and more than any of the 50 states.[1] The 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that Washington, D.C.'s fourth and eighth graders scored lower than any other…