Faces criticism (and praise) for exchange roll out

by Brian Leubitz

Tracy Seipel of the San Jose Mercury News has a profile well worth reading of Peter Lee, the executive director of Covered California:

His grandfather helped start the Palo Alto Medical Clinic in 1930, when the idea of a physicians’ group was so revolutionary that critics called it anti-competitive, even “communist.” And decades later, the Johnson administration recruited his uncle to help roll out Medicare, prompting new attacks from fellow doctors opposed to any slide into “socialized medicine.”

Now, Peter V. Lee, as executive director of Covered California, the state’s new health exchange, has the daunting task of executing a key part of the new federal health care law in the nation’s most populous state. And if the law succeeds here, many health care experts agree, it will likely succeed in other states. (SJ Merc)

Now, let’s just say that the California website rollout has been much smoother than the HealthCare.gov site that had another glitch last night. But there are still a few minor hiccups. But the key here is that it mostly works. It is no mystery why that happened, our lawmakers supported the system and gave it the resources it needed rather than fighting it. And sure, Lee has played a huge role in getting this up and going.

In the end, this system is far from the most effective and efficient health care delivery system, but it is an important step on the road.