Putting the Lid on Health Care Costs: An Industry Perspective

The United States spends at least 47 percent more on health care per person each year than every other nation in the world. From 2003 to 2014, health care spending will grow on average 7.1 percent per year, according to government projections. Currently 45 million Americans are uninsured and rising health costs threaten to make health insurance unaffordable for even more Americans. To discuss these alarming statistics and their implications, Senior Fellow Henry Aaron will moderate a forum on the industry perspective on the rising rates of health care costs. Aaron will be joined by industry leaders Sidney Taurel of Eli Lilly and Company; Leonard Schaeffer of WellPoint Health Networks Inc.; and Robert Galvin of General Electric Company. Nancy Ann Min DeParle of JP Morgan Partners, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Carolyn Clancy of the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality will respond.

This is the second forum in a series of ongoing discussions from the Brookings Health Policy Initiative which brings policymakers and leading experts together to present their views on a variety of questions, from reining in health care costs to maintaining high quality care for all Americans.

Brookings President Strobe Talbott will provide introductory remarks. A question and answer session will follow the discussion.