California's Health Benefit Exchange: The Future Envisioned

California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) has outlined three approaches to help inform California's Health Benefit Exchange (CHBE) in early strategic and operational decisions. CHCF's goal was to formulate strong alternatives that could help solidify the implications of pursuing one path over the others. CHCF held a meeting along with interviews to identify potential goals for the exchange. According to CHCF, three approaches appeared:

• "Price Leader: The CHBE as a Driver of Low Premiums. This approach focuses on the exchange as primarily a cost-focused store that offers the most competitively priced health plans."
• "Service Center: The CHBE as a Consumer Destination. This approach positions the exchange as a consumer-friendly, one-stop shop with broad choices on plan design, accessible information, and strong customer service."
• "Change Agent: The CHBE as a Catalyst of Finance and Delivery Reform. One of the many possible priorities that could be emphasized by the exchange — and perhaps the farthest reaching — is long term reform of the health care system. Such an exchange would establish incentives to encourage innovation and improvement in costs, quality, and efficiency in health care delivery."
   

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