Opinion: San Francisco Could Pose as Model for Reform

Although concerns over costs to employers and the potential for crowd-out with a public insurance plan "can be a sticking point" in the debate over health reform, San Francisco's near-universal health care access program "should put some of those fears to rest," write William Dow, Arindrajit Dube and Carrie Hoverman of UC-Berkeley. They conclude, "The San Francisco experiment has demonstrated that requiring a shared-responsibility model ... has not led to the kind of job losses many fear," adding, "The public option has also passed the market test, while not crowding out private options."

• "A Public Option That Works" (Dow et al., New York Times, 8/22).