An opinion article on the health care reform debate over the public option by Howard Kahn, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan, appeared recently in the Huffington Post, one of the preeminent blogs in the country.
In the blog post, Kahn proposes a new concept for the public option -- a "State-Designated Regional Health Consortium" or SDRHC. These localized SDRHCs plans would be public, not-for-profit, or cooperatives, and meet criteria to ensure they are accountable, transparent, compete on a level playing field, and serve the public's interest. The SDRHC could be an option offered to individuals and businesses through the exchange, and can also serve public programs outside of the exchange.
L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation's largest public plan, could be used as a model for the SDRHCs. For more than 10 years, L.A. Care has been successfully competing with a private plan while improving quality and access to health care and still containing costs.