Message from provost Perry Brown.

• Author: Brown, Perry
• Position: Marketplaces for health insurance. - Brief article

Health care is on everyone's mind, and the launching of Montana's Health Insurance Marketplace is a signal event. At the University of Montana we are intimately involved in discussion about the future of health care, and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research is one of the groups leading the way. How will the marketplace work? What are the options for insurance for people in very different circumstances? Will we be able to reduce our collective costs of health care? Will most people actually have health insurance even though we do not have universal health coverage in Montana or the U.S.? The Affordable Care Act is a grand experiment to see if we improve health care in the U.S. and ensure that it is more affordable. Continuing study of its implementation and outcomes will be necessary as we go forward--and especially necessary in making informed and evidence-based decisions about modifying the system. This issue of the Montana Business Quarterly is one piece for informing us about the marketplace and how it might be used by...