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The Cape Care Coalition, a group of the region's residents and health care and human service professionals, is developing a single-payer health care plan for the residents of Cape Cod. The basic 'building blocks' of the Cape Care plan will be the comments, questions and complaints about the current system from the residents of the Cape. Public input has been and will be sought and recorded, and thus the plan as it emerges will be focused on the region's genuine health care needs.

In order to successfully manage the broad task of organizing a simplified, county-owned, all-inclusive health care plan, the Cape Care Coalition has organized three task forces: medical services; finance; and governance. These task forces will continue to consult with the residents of the Cape to determine the particulars of what is needed in the proposed system.

As this extensive dialog with the residents takes place, the Coalition, in consultation with experts in health care planning and funding, will start to draft a plan. Strong input from county and municipal governments will be facilitate during these stages. The Cape Care Coalition has affirmed the commitment to keep everyone up to date on developments, so frequent reports to the residents will be made through newspapers and other media.

The plan as it emerges from this extensive study and design stage will describe a health care system that is fair and generous, and adapted to Cape Cod. Since Cape Care is non-profit, the costs come only from the administration and actual delivery of medical services, and with the efficiencies gained we can cover everybody more comprehensively for the amount we're already spending. The planning process will continue long enough for all parts of the community of Cape Cod - individuals, businesses, government officials, non-profits and medical providers - to participate. Ultimately, the voters will decide what plan is right for Cape Cod, which will then have to receive various state and federal waivers.

The Cape Care Coalition expects that since so many other regions and states are struggling to come to grips with the health care crisis, Barnstable County is in a good position to be a demonstration model, as it serves its own residents - if it works for 220 thousand people, it should definitely work nationwide. The project is seeking startup support from foundations.

The single-payer system that the Cape Care Coalition is working to create is similar to systems that are in place today in various forms in many countries. Citizens of these other countries are provided with broad health care coverage at half to two-thirds of what we spend, and with members having much greater control over the content and quality of care. It works in other parts of the world, and it can work here. The goal of the Coalition is to design and establish a single-payer system here on Cape Cod.

Cape residents take their health care into their own hands.