Forum Focuses On State Initiatives To Expand Coverage To The Uninsured

At a forum on Monday hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Commonwealth Fund, health care experts discussed recent initiatives taken in Massachusetts, Utah and Vermont to expand health coverage to the uninsured, CQ HealthBeat reports. Each of three states recently has approved measures to expand health coverage to the uninsured. Alice Burton -- vice president of AcademyHealth, where she leads the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives program -- pointed out some common trends among the state initiatives, including comprehensive health coverage changes take time; plans often expect shared financial responsibility; coverage expansions usually depend on private insurers to provide services; and voluntary purchasing pools are not likely to be sufficient to expand coverage. Burton said that states will be the "laboratory of democracy" to allow the federal government and other states to gauge successful expanded coverage initiatives. In addition, Burton said states cannot enact such initiatives without adequate funding options (Hopkins, CQ HealthBeat, 11/20).

A webcast of the event is available online at kaisernetwork.

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