The Great Experiment peels back the heated rhetoric over the federal health care law and provides a serious examination of how the relationship between states and the federal government impacts health care policy decisions.
Since the Bay State’s own experiment was launched in 2006, Pioneer Institute has watched the Health Care Reform Act take on an exaggerated “persona.” For some, it embodies all that is evil about government intrusion into health care markets; for others, it represents all the virtues of government action.
There is no question that the Massachusetts health care reform law was a bold experiment. From the start, it was likely to succeed in some areas and fail in others. Pioneer has chosen not to take an up-or-down position on it, preferring to provide the highest quality empirical analysis with the latest data and shares our findings in an eye-catching, reader-friendly format.
The Great Experiment is about much more than a single state experiment, or the immediate questions the presidential primary may raise regarding Mr. Romney’s term as governor of Massachusetts. Rather, we have assembled some of the best thinkers to outline the options before state and federal officials. Make no mistake about it: The Great Experiment aims to lay out a market-oriented blueprint for the next decade – and seeks to do it with the wisdom and balance that come from observing and analyzing a variety of state and federal policy experiences.
So how do we move forward? That is the theme – truly, the “great experiment” – of this book. What are workable solutions that offer the needed flexibility and respect our federalist government structure? What solutions meet key challenges: the runaway cost of care, nagging questions about quality of care, access to medical services for all residents, and the desire of most Americans to provide coverage for those with pre-existing conditions? How can the United States grapple with exploding Medicaid and Medicare costs?
Is the nation ready to undertake real health care reform? Are our federal and state leaders ready for this great experiment? We have to be; it is now or never.
Jim Stergios
Executive Director
Pioneer Institute
About Pioneer Institute
Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.
