By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER – A Harvard professor who helped design Taiwan’s health care system was chosen Monday as the man who will design three models to remake Vermont’s health care system.
The Health Care Reform Commission voted unanimously Monday afternoon to choose Dr. William Hsiao as the leader of an effort that could bring about dramatic changes to how Vermont handles health care.
Hsiao, who testified before the Vermont Legislature earlier this year, will lead an effort to design three new health care models – including a single-payer system and a public health insurance option – for the Green Mountain State.
Rep. Steve Maier, D-Middlebury, the chairman of the House Health Care Committee, said the reform commission received bids from three people for the $300,000 project. The commission interviewed two of the bidders Monday morning before making a decision.
Maier said all the bids came in at or just slightly below the budgeted $300,000. He said Hsiao’s experience, vision and clarity put him at the front of the pack.
"We think all of the bidders would have done a good job," Maier said. "But Dr. Hsiao had a clarity in his responses that we liked."
Hsiao is a professor of economics at the Harvard School of Public Health. Much of his research in recent years has focused on designing detailed models of health care, including how to finance these systems and payment systems for doctors and hospitals.
Sen. Doug Racine, D-Chittenden, the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, led the charge to allocate the funds for the designs. Racine, a Democrat running for governor, has said the state needs to move away from debates over what kind of system it wants and focus on how these systems would actually work.
Members of the Health Care Reform Commission will appear today before the Joint Fiscal Committee for final approval of the financial allocation. Hsiao is now scheduled to report back to lawmakers with the designs early in 2011.
daniel.barlow@timesargus.com