AHIP Forum

Perhaps planning for 2009, AHIP held a forum on the European countries, the Netherlands and Switzerlahd, that offer universal coverage through a privately operated system in contrast to Great Britain, for example, or Canada on our continent.

“Our community is committed to working to achieve coverage for all Americans,” said AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni, in opening remarks at the event.

AHIP and Kaiser Permanente held the forum, Ignagni said, not to endorse a particular system or model. She noted that “there is confusion in our public debate between the idea of ‘universal coverage’ and the term ‘government run.’”

Harvard Business School Professor Regina Herzlinger previously has pointed to the Swiss system as a possible model for the U.S.