As states around the country begin to assemble their own health insurance exchanges as mandated by healthcare reform, the nation's leading expert on such programs believes some fundamental essentials must be followed in order for these exchanges to be stable and sustainable.

"State exchanges need to be as welcoming to those currently insured as they are to the uninsured," said Ron Goldstein, president of CHOICE Administrators, the nation's leader in developing and administering employee-choice health benefit programs. "Exchanges will need to appeal every bit as much to individuals and small groups who do not qualify for subsidies or tax credits as they do to those who qualify for these incentives. Only by being inclusive to all individuals can a state exchange attract the type of balanced enrollment that will allow it to be a stable and sustainable force in the market."

Goldstein oversees the nation's oldest and most successful private health insurance exchange for small and mid-size groups – CaliforniaChoice. Launched in 1996 CaliforniaChoice currently works with more than 10,000 employers and covers 150,000 members. In August it became the first health insurance exchange in the nation to reach the 20 million member-month historical plateau.