Here are some important questions that need to be answered:

• Would the system be highly regulated or not regulated at all?
• If it could not pay for everything that anyone might want, how would the system make sure the most important care was covered? 
• Who would pay for it?
• How would it be resistant to abuse? 
• Who would it cover? 
• How would it ensure safety, quality and efficiency? 
• Would patients be in charge of their own care? 

Post your thoughts in the comments section or email it to blog@preceptgroup.com. We’ll post the best responses next week.

Survey – Cost Of COBRA Was 145% Of Active Employee Cost - Average claims costs for COBRA continuees exceeded costs for active employees by about 45%, according to the 15th nationwide survey of employers’ and plan administrators’ COBRA experience, conducted by Spencer’s Benefits Reports.

Early Intervention Key to Reducing Workers’ Comp Costs – The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI), a Fairfax, Va., nonprofit risk management training and educational organization, has released a resource guide for controlling workers’ compensations costs that focuses on using telephonic nurse injury reporting and triage as important early intervention.

Poll: Most Americans like their health plans – A majority of Americans are satisfied with their health plans and do not intend to switch to another plan for the coming year, a new poll indicates.

Consumer-Driven Health Plans Slow To Catch On, 2nd Annual Survey Finds – Americans have not yet warmed to consumer-driven health plans, a relatively new kind of coverage that offers reduced premiums but carries higher annual deductibles.

Americans make small gains in improving health – Overall, the country made a 0.3% gain in improving its health, compared to last year. The report contributes this upswing to decreases in infectious disease, smoking, cardiovascular deaths, motor vehicle deaths and violent crime.

Tax subsidies for employer-sponsored health insurance to exceed $200 billion this year – Total Federal and State tax subsidies for employer-sponsored health care coverage for active workers will exceed $200 billion in 2006.

Double Digit Increases in Medical Costs Anticipated – Employers that do not make changes to their benefit packages could be hit with double-digit increases in healthcare costs, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers

Voluntary underwriting requirements loosen – New research from Eastbridge Consulting shows that carriers are loosening their underwriting requirements for voluntary products.

San Francisco passes sick leave law - San Francisco residents last week approved a ballot initiative that requires employers to provide paid sick leave to full-time, part-time and temporary workers.

Los Angeles is filing patient `dumping’ charges against Kaiser Permanente on Wednesday, the first criminal prosecution of a medical center accused of "dumping" patients on skid row.

Workers comp cost and benefits – Current state rankings – If you were to ask any employer in America how his or her workers’ compensation costs compare to similar employers in other states, what do you think the answer would be?

In 2002, the English government embarked on a $12 billion effort to transform its health-care system with information technology. But the country’s oversight agency now puts that figure at $24 billion, and two Members of Parliament say the project is "sleepwalking toward disaster."

Read more at http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2058194,00.asp