In 2003, the California Endowment sponsored two conferences organized by what became the Blue Sky Health initiative to explore what a successful American health system would look like if the current one were torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.  Participants agreed that a major restructuring is long overdue, since the current system is designed for an earlier era and fails to address present health goals. The conference prompted various UCLA researchers and other participants to collaborate together to find a way to restructure our current system so that we are able to optimize the health of the population.

In response to the call for change, the Blue Sky Health team expanded upon the first principles from those initial convenings to produce a more fully articulated framework and strategy for transforming the U.S. health system. In 2005, the Blue Sky Health Initiative was formally created with the goal of coming up with a comprehensive plan for transforming the U.S. health system.  In 2006, we began communicating these ideas in numerous settings across the country, and the response has been beyond encouraging. Since then we have received the support of well-respected partners, including the California Endowment, who are enthusiastic about our work and are confident that we can make a lasting contribution to the health care of all Americans.