State governments have a unique opportunity to transform the current health care system into one that provides higher-quality care at lower costs. The State Health Care Cost Containment Commission was created to identify how states might use their authorities and policy levers to guide this transformation. The members of the Commission, consisting of two former governors and high-level executives from major national health plans, all shared the same conviction: state governments were much more likely to succeed in lowering the growth rate of health care costs than any federal action in the next few decades. Moreover, the states are well positioned to accelerate the current trend toward integrated, coordinated care organizations that are held accountable for meeting cost management and quality goals.
