Colorado voters will soon understand how a member-run, member-owned cooperative business would pay for universal, quality health care statewide.
In July, the Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care hired economics professor Gerald Friedman, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to prepare an economic impact study on the Colorado Health Care Cooperative. The report, due in late 2012, is intended to offer Colorado voters practical, specific data about the Cooperative’s financial feasibility, including the benefit package and premium costs for both individuals and businesses.
When Vermont’s universal health care system’s architect, Harvard Economics Professor William Hsiao, Ph.D., reviewed the proposed Colorado Health Care Cooperative, he found it a viable model to provide quality health care statewide while improving coordination and cutting costs. Colorado voters, Dr. Hsiao said, will need to know the results of more in-depth analysis of the benefits package and premiums so as to understand specifically how the Cooperative will impact them.
The Foundation is thrilled to hire Dr. Friedman to do the impact study. Indeed, making his important work available publicly fits our mission perfectly:
The Colorado Foundation for Universal Health Care develops ideas for, and educates the public about, health care development proposals that provide quality universal coverage, are fiscally responsible, and are advantageous to consumers, providers and employers.
