Also read a related report, Envisioning the Future: The 2008 Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Proposals and issue brief, The Public's Views on Health Care Reform in the 2008 Presidential Election.
The 13th Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey asked a diverse group of experts for their perspective on the health care reform proposals of the 2008 presidential candidates. Survey participants strongly support reform proposals that applied a mixed private–public market approach. Additional favored policy strategies for reform include a requirement for individuals to obtain health insurance, new private market regulations, and a requirement for employers to provide coverage or contribute to a coverage fund. Alternatively, respondents think proposals that focus on tax incentives to purchase individual private health insurance are not an effective method for controlling the rising costs of health care or achieving universal coverage. Health care opinion leaders call for the next president to simultaneously address universal coverage and quality, efficiency, and cost containment policies to move our health care system toward high performance.
Also available are two related commentaries, Reform Is No 'Either-Or': We Must Fix the Payment System Along with Access by Darrell Kirch, M.D, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and Tough Choices Ahead: Candidates Ignore Pain of Needed Cuts to Health Costs by Dallas L. Salisbury, president and CEO of the Employee Benefit Research Institute and a member of The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.