Ask the Experts Live Webcast Today: A Public Plan Option Under Health Reform

A number of proposals to expand health insurance coverage -- including those put forward by leading Democratic candidates for president -- would allow people to enroll in a publicly sponsored health plan, potentially competing side-by-side with private insurance plans. Kaisernetwork.org's Ask the Experts live webcast today at 1:30 p.m. ET will examine this idea, looking at such questions as: Is Medicare a model for such a plan? What gaps in the current insurance system would it address? Is it an appropriate role for government? How would it affect health care costs and spending? Could it, in effect, lead to a single-payer system? Larry Levitt, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation and editor-in-chief of kaisernetwork.org, will moderate a discussion with Linda Blumberg, a principal research associate at the Urban Institute; Stuart Butler, vice president of the Domestic and Economic Policy at the The Heritage Foundation; and Jacob Hacker, a professor of political science and a resident fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University. Please e-mail your questions to ask@kaisernetwork.org. The webcast will be available online.