Grand Valley holds summit on health care reform

As lawmakers move closer to passing health care reform, Grand Valley State University will host some of the nation’s foremost policy makers who will give a balanced overview of the largest government-led overhaul ever attempted.

A two-day summit on health care reform will feature experts from American Enterprise Institute, CATO Institute, Slate, and Brookings Institution who will frame the debate in a way that is understandable to the general public. The panel will answer questions about how an individual’s health care and pocketbook will be affected.

The two-day summit will be held January 28 and 29. Keynote speaker Kalahn Taylor-Clark from Brookings Institution will be at the Cook-DeWitt Center on the Allendale Campus and all other events will be in Loosemore Auditorium in the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton St. See full schedule below.

“There could not be a better time to host this health care summit,” said Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. “We are bringing in experts to help people understand how the changes being proposed on Capitol Hill will impact the quality and accessibility to health care. People also want to know the long-term fiscal impact on government and the economic impact on taxpayers and businesses.”

The event is sponsored by Grand Valley’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, College of Community and Public Service, College of Health Professions, Kirkhof College of Nursing, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Women’s Center and Department of Political Science and also by Saint Mary’s Health Services, Spectrum Health, Advantage Health Physician Network and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and Presidential Museum.

Conference Schedule
Thursday, January 28:
2:30 p.m., Cook-DeWitt Center, Allendale Campus, Kalahn Taylor-Clark from Brookings Institution will be the keynote speaker
7 p.m., Loosemore Auditorium, Pew Grand Rapids Campus, “The Debate” featuring Thomas Miller from the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Tanner from the CATO Institute, and Timothy Noah from Slate. Kalahn Taylor-Clark will moderate.

Friday, January 29:
All events in Loosemore Auditorium, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
9 a.m. keynote speaker, Marianne Udow-Phillips, director of the Center for Health Care Research and Transformation at the University of Michigan
9:30 a.m.- Panel I: “What Do We Get Out of Reform?”
11:30 a.m.- Panel II: “How Much Does It Cost?”
Panelists include:
David Paradis, former executive director of the Michigan Osteopathic Association
Vondie Woodbury, Muskegon Community Health Project
Anne Rosewarne, Michigan Health Council
Steve Borders, professor at Grand Valley State University who teaches health care administration
David Blair, MD, Saint Mary’s Health Care in Grand Rapids
Mark Lemoine, director of System Government Affairs for Spectrum Health

For more information, contact Grand Valley’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at (616) 331-2770 or visit www.allpresidents.org.