Dear Melba,
     I read with interest (and then signed up for your newsletter!) the Issue 54 piece on the San Antonio Orthopaedic Group and what they have done. I am an ophthalmologist in private practice and Clinical Professor in the Dept. of Ophthal here at the med school. For the past 18 months I have been working on a private sector reform plan to fix what is wrong with the system while preserving what is wonderful about our care. I started an organization with the help of a senior advisor who is a two star general and has much business and insurance savy- Bill Cooney.(ex head of Nato and past CEO of USAA). Our organization is United with Solutions for American Healthcare- USAH. My website is usaHealthalert.org and if you click on "the plan" you will find the template for a 12 point reform plan. When Nebraska had a state healthcare summit, one paragraph of their position piece was my plan with a footnoted acknowledgement. I sent the plan to all fifty governors, to our elected officials, to several think tanks, and prominent economists- I even got a letter back from Arthur Laffer!
        I would like to speak with you about this. I do not have any proprietary interest in the plan, but the more sharing and talk we can accomplish to stop federalized healthcare, insure the 13 million who are currently really falling between the cracks, and then hold a national private sector healthcare summit with all of the non-organization real world players at the table to hammer out innovative ways to achieve portable, affordable, patient/physician centered health insurance plans. Read my plan and see what you think!

Best regards,
Jane Hughes, M.D.