The Five (Not So) Easy Pieces of Health Reform
Joseph Antos, John E. Calfee , Robert B. Helms, Scott Gottlieb, Thomas P. Miller, Bill Thomas, David Hyman, Scott Harrington, Stephen T. Parente
June 04, 2009
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Beginning in June, Congress will launch the latest round of an Obama administration-supported effort to overhaul and transform the U.S. health care system through complex, comprehensive, and controversial legislation. The five core elements within this health reform plan include mandates for universal coverage, a national health insurance exchange, a new public plan option for individuals not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid, revenue increases and spending offsets amounting to at least $1 trillion over the next ten years, and limits on the future scope and scale of medical treatment options.

At this event, several panels of AEI scholars, health industry experts, and health policy researchers will examine the likely impact, feasibility, and support for such policy reforms and the context within which they will be debated in the months ahead. During a luncheon address, Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, will provide a preview of this summer's proceedings on Capitol Hill, as well as his own proposal for improving the affordability, accessibility, and accountability of patient-centered health care. AEI resident fellow Thomas P. Miller will moderate.

About the Author

 

Joseph
Antos

  • Mr. Antos's research focuses on the economics of health policy—including Medicare and broader health system reform, health care financing, health insurance regulation, and the uninsured—and federal budget policy. He has written and spoken extensively on the Medicare drug benefit and has led a team of experienced independent actuaries and cost estimators in a study to evaluate various proposals to extend health coverage to the uninsured. His work on the country’s budget crisis includes a detailed plan to achieve fiscal stability and economic growth developed in conjunction with AEI colleagues.  


    Joseph Antos is also a commissioner of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission and a health adviser to the Congressional Budget Office.  Before joining AEI, Mr. Antos was Assistant Director for Health and Human Resources at the Congressional Budget Office.




    Watch Mr. Antos in an interview with Bill Erwin of the Alliance for Health Reform on "Will Health Reform Reduce the Federal Deficit?"

    nullFollow Joseph Antos on Twitter

  • Phone: 202-862-5938
    Email: jantos@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Catherine Griffin
    Phone: 2028625920
    Email: catherine.griffin@aei.org
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John E.
Calfee

  • Economist John E. Calfee (1941-2011) studied the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with the economics of tobacco, tort liability, and patents. He previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Economics. He had also taught marketing and consumer behavior at the business schools of the University of Maryland at College Park and Boston University. While Mr. Calfee's writings are mostly on pharmaceutical markets and FDA regulation, his academic articles and opinion pieces covered a variety of topics, from patent law and tort liability to advertising and consumer information. His books include Prices, Markets, and the Pharmaceutical Revolution (AEI Press, 2000) and Biotechnology and the Patent System (AEI Press, 2007). Mr. Calfee wrote regularly for AEI's Health Policy Outlook series. He testified before Congress and federal agencies on various topics, including alcohol advertising; biodefense vaccine research; international drug prices; and FDA oversight of drug safety.

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Robert B.
Helms
  • Robert B. Helms has served as a member of the Medicaid Commission as well as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation and deputy assistant secretary for health policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). An economist by training, he has written and lectured extensively on health policy and health economics, including the history of Medicare, the tax treatment of health insurance, and compared international health systems. He currently participates in the Health Policy Consensus Group, an informal task force that is developing consumer-driven health reforms. He is the author or editor of several AEI books on health policy, including Medicare in the Twenty-First Century: Seeking Fair and Efficient Reform and Competitive Strategies in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
  • Phone: 2028625877
    Email: rhelms@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Catherine Griffin
    Phone: 2028625920
    Email: catherine.griffin@aei.org
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Scott
Gottlieb
  • Scott Gottlieb, M.D., a practicing physician, has served in various capacities at the Food and Drug Administration, including senior adviser for medical technology; director of medical policy development; and, most recently, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. Dr. Gottlieb has also served as a senior policy adviser at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

     

  • Phone: 202-862-5885
    Email: scott.gottlieb@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Catherine Griffin
    Phone: 2028625920
    Email: catherine.griffin@aei.org
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Thomas P.
Miller
  • Thomas Miller is a former senior health economist for the Joint Economic Committee (JEC). He studies health care policy and regulation. A former trial attorney, journalist, and sports broadcaster, Mr. Miller is the co-author of Why ObamaCare Is Wrong For America (HarperCollins 2011) and heads AEI's "Beyond Repeal & Replace" health reform project. He has testified before Congress on issues including the uninsured, health care costs, Medicare prescription drug benefits, health insurance tax credits, genetic information, Social Security, and federal reinsurance of catastrophic events. While at the JEC, he organized a number of hearings that focused on reforms in private health care markets, such as information transparency and consumer-driven health care.
  • Phone: 202-862-5886
    Email: tmiller@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Catherine Griffin
    Phone: 202-862-5920
    Email: catherine.griffin@aei.org
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Bill
Thomas
  • Bill Thomas, a former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1978 to 2007. During his six-year chairmanship, he guided the enactment of $2 trillion in tax relief, including the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001, which reduced all ordinary income tax rates; the Jobs and Growth Tax Reconciliation Act of 2003, which reduced the tax rate on dividends and capital gains; and the Job Creation Act of 2004, which provided significant reforms for corporate tax policy.
  • Phone: 2028625830
    Email: bill.thomas@aei.org
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David
Hyman
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Scott
Harrington
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Stephen T.
Parente
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