The State Laboratories

Kaiser Network provides great information on their website, www.kaisernetwork.org, about a variety of issues involving healthcare.  One of their daily reports last week provides an update on the status of healthcare reform initiatives in six states.  Utah's proposal, which I've been following over the last few months, is pretty modest stuff.  It doesn't attempt to overhaul the basics of how we deliver or finance healthcare.  Rather, it seeks to knock some of the rough edges off a few of the most problematic aspects of getting and paying for medical services without changing any underlying fundamentals.  I think Utah's healthcare the task force recognized after taking a look at the large number of moving parts associated with the issue that it simply didn't have the horses to accomplish fundamental change.  However, I think, on a national level, we'll have to do better than tinkering with the existing structure if we want to cover the uninsured while at the same time reining in costs.