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Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- December 02, 2009, 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
The United States will spend $2.4 trillion on health care this year, yet there is no system in place to efficiently evaluate the quality, effectiveness, and safety of the care that is delivered. On December 2, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings will host a forum to outline a vision and practical next steps toward a health information infrastructure that could quickly and efficiently generate evidence for health care decision-makers.
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Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:15:00 GMT
In the wake of the Senate's vote to allow the health care reform debate to proceed to the Senate floor, Senior Fellow Henry Aaron cautions that any legislation to revamp the system must be fiscally responsible and should improve the quality of care. He says lawmakers have many long discussions ahead of them.
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Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The White House recently released a letter sent to President Obama by a group of more than twenty economists, including two Nobel laureates and five former presidents of the American Economic Association, urging that health reform should include four key measures to rein in health care spending and promote fiscal responsibility.
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Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- November 05, 2009, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Health care innovation, done right, creates opportunities for consumers to control their own health records, rate physicians and hospitals, learn from other patients and focus on positive health outcomes. On November 5, Brookings hosted a policy forum to discuss the ways in which digital technology can empower patients and enhance the quality of the American health care system.
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Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:58:00 GMT
Technological advances in health care can give consumers more control over key aspects of their care and health outcomes. Darrell West examines the benefits of new technology in the medical system and what it will mean for the quality, accessibility and affordability of health care.
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Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:39:10 GMT
The Center on Social and Economic Dynamics at Brookings has released a comprehensive report on the economic impact of closing schools and day care centers to help mitigate the infection rate of the H1N1 virus. Center director Joshua Epstein highlights some of the study’s findings and notes that the cost for such closures could be substantial.
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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
"Opt-out” has become the most powerful phrase in the health care debate, thanks to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to include it in Senate legislation. If particular jurisdictions do not like a public option, they simply can exit the government health insurance system for uninsured residents. This is a very American idea, writes Darrell West. However, from a governance standpoint, the public option creates a worrisome precedent for other policy areas.
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Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 23, 2009, 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
On October 23, Brookings host eda discussion featuring a group of individuals committed to the cause of childhood health care. In particular, the discussion focused on health care and insurance coverage for autism spectrum disorders and vascular birthmark issues, which together affect over two million Americans.
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Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 21, 2009, 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
As the nation and the world continue to grapple with H1N1, and while delivery of the vaccine in the United States faces delays, school closures are one policy tool under consideration to slow spread of the pandemic. Ross Hammond, co-author of a recent report that quantified the economic effects of school closures, and Fred Barbash, Politico senior editor, answered questions in a live web chat about the implications and potential costs of this approach.
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Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As the nation and the world continue to grapple with H1N1, and while delivery of the vaccine in the United States faces delays, school closures are one policy tool under consideration to slow spread of the pandemic. Ross Hammond, co-author of a recent report that quantified the economic effects of school closures, and Fred Barbash, Politico senior editor, took questions in a live web chat about the implications and potential costs of this approach.
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Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Henry Aaron argues that it is essential that the health care reform bill authored by Sen. Max Baucus and recently passed by the Senate Finance Committee undergo some modification if it is to truly expand coverage, improve care and drive down costs.
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Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Although health care reform is intended to bend the curve of spending and reduce the deficit, it alone will not be enough, say Henry Aaron and Isabel Sawhill. They propose that Congress enact a value-added tax, the equivalent of a broad-based sales tax on all goods and services. The revenue from the new tax, and other sources, should be linked directly to public health care spending through a newly created trust fund which would pay for all federal health care spending.
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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
To dig deeper into what the American public really thinks about health care, experts at Brookings and WorldPublicOpinion.org gathered and interpreted polling research about public attitudes toward reform of the country’s health care system. Their results offer a new and complex portrait of how Americans view health care reform and the policy debate surrounding the polarizing issue.
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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Health care today is dominated by physicians, hospitals, the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies and government agencies. However, imagine a different system where, with the aid of technology, the patient is in charge. Darrell West outlines a vision for a new health care system based on mobile health (mHealth), remote monitors, electronic medical records, social networking sites, video conferencing and Internet-based recordkeeping.
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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 08, 2009, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Comprehensive health care reform legislation is moving through Congress. Democrats and Republicans have relied on vast amounts of research, including public opinion polls, to shape their positions and formulate policy solutions. Pundits and legislators alike regularly cite what the American people want in the final reform package. But just how complete is this research? On October 8, Brookings and WorldPublicOpinion.org unveiled new survey research about public attitudes on health care reform.
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Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- October 08, 2009, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
On October 8, The Brookings Institution hosted a policy forum to discuss how digital technology can empower patients to take responsibility for their routine health care, and rely on physicians and hospitals only for more serious medical conditions.
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Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Isabel Sawhill examines the effect of the proposed health care reform legislation on the middle class. She concludes that the reform will be a false victory if all it does is expand coverage and increase choice, without substantially affecting what our health care dollars buy.
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Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Policymakers are looking at school closures to contain the spread of an H1N1 influenza outbreak. In the first comprehensive U.S. study of the economic cost of school and daycare center closures, the Center on Social and Economic Dynamics at Brookings finds that closing all schools in the United States for four weeks could cost up to $47 billion and lead to a reduction of up to 17% in key health care personnel.
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Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In early September, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform released a report, Bending the Curve: Effective Steps to Address Long-Term Spending Growth, to help inform the current debate. A new brief provides a high-level review of the legislation introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, including a side-by-side summary of key provisions of the Bending the Curve report and those in the Baucus proposal.
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Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Henry Aaron discusses the likely demise of the public option and laments that such a minor issue has continually diverted attention from reform issues that really count - how to create health insurance exchanges, what powers to give them, how much insurance people should have, what subsidies low-income households need to make that insurance affordable, and how to change health care delivery to realize the full potential of modern medicine.
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Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Despite months of negotiations, Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus was forced to introduce his long-awaited health reform bill without gaining the support of even one Republican senator. At first glance this outcome seems puzzling, but party polarization—the ideological gap in Congress between Democrats and Republicans–is at its highest level in more than a century, writes William Galston.
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Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Isabel Sawhill explains why addressing rising health care costs has to be the first step in solving the nation’s long term fiscal problems.
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Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
After months of preparations and negotiations, Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Committee, unveiled his health care bill. Henry Aaron offers a review of the proposed plan, observing that it is unclear whether enough Democrats will vote for the tax increases or spending cuts necessary to pay for any bill they are willing to support.
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Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Alice Rivlin states that a comprehensive reform of the health care system is necessary to reduce the impact of future recessions on working people and make our economy more resilient.
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Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
At a recent Congressional Health Care Caucus policy forum, Engelberg Center Director Mark McClellan discussed some of the unanswered questions and challenges facing health care reform, noting that there has been little public engagement on several key issues that need to be addressed, including major reforms within health insurance markets, and the need for fundamental changes to support better lifestyle choices.
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Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- September 14, 2009, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
The 2009 Conference on Clinical Cancer Research, hosted by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and Friends of Cancer Research, brought together distinguished members of the cancer community for in-depth discussions of critical issues at the intersection of clinical research and policy. The event featured presentations by National Cancer Institute Director John Neiderhuber and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, as well as panel discussions focusing on optimal data collection for clinical trials, development and approval of targeted therapies, and development of combination therapies targeting multiple pathways.
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Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As the heated health care debate continues, Michael Fullilove weighs in on President Barack Obama's recent address to a joint session of Congress. Fullilove argues that President Obama's speech showed passion, clarity and strength, and that it will give lawmakers a necessary push towards a positive middle ground as the final bill takes shape.
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Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In this new article, Senior Fellow Henry Aaron and Paul B. Ginsburg discuss the delicate task of reining in spending without harming our welfare.
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Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
After a difficult August congressional recess in which plans to reform the nation’s health care system seemed to be in jeopardy, President Barack Obama gave a speech to a congressional joint session, making it clear that he would use every resource available to him to assure that his health care reform plan succeeds. Henry Aaron analyzes President Obama's speech.
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Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:08:23 GMT
After the President addressed a Joint Session of Congress, Senior Fellow Henry Aaron offers his view on where health care reform efforts move from here. Aaron says that the president delivered a strong and persuasive speech that spells out his vision for health care reform, and that Congress and Republicans stand to gain much by helping to deliver important reform.
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Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As President Obama ascended the podium to deliver his pivotal health care speech, he faced a number of key challenges: to regain control of a debate, to reunify a divided Democratic party, and to allay widespread public fears that have weakened support for reform in recent months. Early polls suggest that the speech was well received and had moved a substantial portion of the public in the president’s direction. On the other hand, it seems likely that three major areas of public doubt remain; Medicare, the budget deficit, and employer-provided insurance coverage, writes William Galston.
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Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Senior Fellow Henry Aaron reviews the new book, Chaos and Organization in Health Care, by Thomas H. Lee and James J. Mongan.
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Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Senior Fellow William G. Gale and Alan J. Auerbach argue that while Obama must spell out a plan for reducing health costs, that will only partly address the long-term fiscal gap. Taxes and broader cuts are needed to solve the government's long-term financial problems.
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Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Mark McClellan, a senior fellow and the director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, talks with Kai Ryssdal about rumors that President Barack Obama may drop the public option in a new health care bill and what's likely to happen next.
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Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:35:02 GMT
Experts are bracing for an extremely high H1N1 flu infection rate this fall and winter. Joshua Epstein says computer modeling can help the medical community and policy-makers predict which populations are most susceptible to infection, how great the infection rate will be and how to stem the spread of the virus.
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Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Reducing the growth of health care spending must be a top priority for health care reform. With this goal in mind, a group of leading health policy experts, including Engelberg Center Director Mark McClellan, has released a set of concrete, feasible steps that show promise for both slowing spending growth and improving quality and value in health care.
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Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Senior Fellow Henry J. Aaron explains why reforming health care is crucial to sustaining Medicare, Social Security and federal finances.
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Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
With the debate over end-of-life counseling clouding the health care reform discussion, some in Congress have abandoned support for the service. Strobe Talbott and his son Devin describe their family's experience this year, providing a vivid perspective on the value of both counseling and hospice care.
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Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:28:15 GMT
Senator Edward Kennedy served in the U.S. Senate for nearly 50 years and left behind a legacy of service and commitment. Senior Fellow Emeritus Stephen Hess observes that Kennedy was one of the most noted figures in the U.S. Senate and will likely be the last member of his family to leave such an indelible mark on politics.
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Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As Congress and the Administration consider legislation to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, they must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. Engelberg Center experts, with support from Avalere Health, discuss evidence on a range of payment and delivery system reforms designed to improve health care in a new report.
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Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- August 19, 2009, 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
With Congress out on recess, climate change and health care reform efforts are stalled. Thomas Mann and Politico's Fred Barbash took questions in a live web chat on whether partisan gridlock and hefty price tags could prevent these bills’ passage.
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Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Marc Thiesen write that school vouchers could free special needs students from a public education system that is ill-equipped or unwilling to serve them. They also believe health reform must ensure that insurance will cover well-documented associated with autism.
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Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Congress is considering redirecting federal spending on the Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital (DSH) program to help pay for health reform. Aaron McKethan, S. Lawrence Kocot and other experts discuss linking Medicaid DSH spending to state-level Medicaid enrollment or uninsured populations, or both, as a way of creating significant federal savings over time without exposing hospitals to uncertain or across-the-board spending cuts.
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Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Engelberg Center director Mark McClellan discusses with Bloomberg TV's Political Capital host Al Hunt cost-saving measures around the country that deliver better health care at lower costs, and the importance of bipartisanship in implementing sustainable reform.
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Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:21:19 GMT
The debate over health care reform has moved from Capitol Hill into the heartland where Members of Congress are hosting dozens of packed town hall meetings on the issue. William Frenzel, a Brookings expert and former U.S. representative from Minnesota, and the a co-chair of The Committee For a Responsible Federal Budget—which holds community meetings to gauge how the public feels about government spending—says town hall meetings should be used judiciously.
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Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As the discussion on health care reform continues across America, Mark McClellan and other health policy experts have looked for solutions from communities that are already redesigning health care for the better. The experts offer a number of steps that can help our nation change how health care is delivered so that it is both less expensive and more effective.
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Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As Americans debate about health care reform and how it will affect the doctor-patient relationship, Darrell West discusses how new technologies can bring in a new era of "participatory medicine." The advent of health information technology can generate efficiency, reduce costs, and improve outcomes.
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Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:40:09 GMT
Back in their states and districts for the summer recess, Members of Congress are hearing from their constituents on health care reform legislation. Sarah Binder says trying to pass a health care reform bill is a gamble for legislators, who fear they could lose votes in the 2010 election if the bill is perceived as too costly.
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Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Joshua M. Epstein explains that agent-based computational models can capture irrational behaviour, complex social networks and global scale — all essential in confronting H1N1.
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Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As Congress continues to debate health care reform, the question of how to pay for it remains at the center of the discussion. The politics of paying for near-universal coverage are formidable and may prove insurmountable, says Henry Aaron. He believes it is essential to identify elements of a full plan that could be financed at a politically acceptable price and would set the stage for later reforms.
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Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT
With his approval ratings declining and increasing congressional infighting about health care overhaul, President Obama's reform efforts are starting to resemble President Clinton's failed attempt in 1994. However, Darrell West argues President Obama has already demonstrated much greater political effectiveness than President Clinton, and on this issue ultimately, Democrats will succeed in passing health care reform because the risks of failure are too high.
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Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:52:06 GMT
With the Congressional district work period about to start, lawmakers were unable to meet President Obama’s deadline to pass health care reform legislation, but talks will continue in the fall. Henry Aaron says differing opinions on everything from framing the issue to paying for reform make finding common ground difficult.
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Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
At the Alliance for Health Reform’s recent briefing on health care financing, Engelberg Center Director Mark McClellan focused on a new path forward to health reform, based on his work with the Bipartisan Policy Center.
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Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Proponents have high hopes for health care reform, but legislation is unlikely to alter personal behavior. What is needed today, writes Darrell West, is serious thinking about how to get Americans to lead healthier lifestyles. If we want health care reform to reduce costs and improve good health, we need a public education campaign emphasizing exercise, balanced diets and healthier living.
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Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In 2007, Congress directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create a new postmarketing surveillance system that will, by 2012, be using electronic health data from 100 million people to prospectively monitor the safety of marketed medical products. In The New England Journal of Medicine, Mark McClellan and key health policy experts discuss how the FDA's Sentinel Network can achieve this goal with proper organization, operation, and implementation.
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Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Mark McClellan, having served in the administrations of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, shares his ideas with Dallas Morning News for developing a bipartisan consensus on health reform.
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Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In the latest wave of state access reform, states are undertaking a range of initiatives to improve the availability and affordability of health insurance in the small and non-group markets. Aaron McKethan, a research director in the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, describes with fellow researchers how even though today's initiatives are evolving to address lessons from past efforts, current efforts could advance our understanding of the types of policies that will likely succeed in expanding coverage in these markets and inform future state and national health reform efforts.
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Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
William Gale argues that choosing to finance health care reform by taxing the rich is bad economic policy, bad health policy, bad budget policy and poor leadership. He says if we want to seriously reform the health care system, we need our politicians to get serious with some sensible policies.
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Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:51:12 GMT
President Obama continues to press Congress to get him a bill to reform the nation’s health care system before the August recess. Alice Rivlin says that the current system needs to be changed for not only for the good of the American people but also for the nation's long-term fiscal health.
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Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Alice Rivlin offers her comments on the timing of health care reform on PBS' Nightly Business Report. The best hope for reducing the rate of growth of Federal spending in the future is making health care delivery more efficient so that we get more care per dollar, according to Rivlin.
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Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Washington’s arguments on new health care reform appear far removed from the public’s needs, writes Darrell West. He argues that the clashes on the so-called public option do not satisfy the most important concern consumers have: that their current care will not suffer.
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Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- July 09, 2009, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
On July 9, the Brookings Institution hosted an event to discuss the pros and cons of expanding the new public insurance plan for health care, how to reduce costs while expanding coverage, and the central role of information technology in health reform.
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Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 24, 2009, 12:30 PM to 01:30 PM
On Wednesday, June 24 at 12:30, Brookings expert Henry Aaron joined Politico’s Fred Barbash for a live web chat on how to balance the fiscal and societal issues at play in reforming the health care system.
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Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Henry Aaron discusses the draft bill released by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and the Congressional Budget Office 's published estimate that the bill would cost $1 trillion over 10 years and leave 35 million uninsured.
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Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Henry Aaron recently spoke about the budget, health care and entitlements at the Youth Action Conference. The conference, hosted by the Concord Coalition in conjunction with the Youth Entitlements Summit highlighted grassroots efforts and policy perspectives of youth organizations in addressing America's long-term fiscal challenge.
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Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As discussion advances on healthcare reform and expansion of coverage in the U.S., the health insurance enrollment process takes on heightened importance. Jeffrey Kling looks at the issues through the lens of behavioral economics – using both psychology and economics to understand individual decision-making.
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Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
A forum hosted by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and The Hamilton Project addressed many of the key questions surrounding comparative effectiveness research (CER). Discussion papers released at the event focus on how research questions should be prioritized, what methods and data infrastructure are needed for CER, and how CER findings can be used to improve clinical and health policy decisions.
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Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 09, 2009, 8:30 AM to 12:45 PM
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 invested $1.1 billion in federal initiatives to begin the important and necessary work of comparative effectiveness research (CER), a key building block in health care reform. A forum hosted by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and The Hamilton Project addressed many of the key questions surrounding CER, and featured remarks from Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag.
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Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As members of Congress prepare to delve into health care reform, William Galston writes that it’s time for elected officials to begin leveling with the American people about the choices they face if we are finally to achieve universal health insurance with meaningful cost containment.
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Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- June 02, 2009, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
On June 2, Christina Romer, chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, joined Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform director Mark McClellan, Harvard economist David Cutler and former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin to discuss the economic case for health care reform and its potential impact on the U.S. economy.
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Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Armed with $19 billion dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Obama administration hopes to employ health information technology to improve medical treatment, cut costs by reducing errors and redundancies, and empower patients by giving them control over their own medical records. Not an easy task, warns Brookings expert Darrell West, since the federal government will need to address the financial, organization, and technological barriers limiting the utilization of health IT in the US.
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Wed, 20 May 2009 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- May 20, 2009, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
As the Obama administration looks to reform health care, encouraging signs point to the potential for health IT to play a significant role in changing the current system. At a forum on May 20, hosted by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings in cooperation with the Markle Foundation, experts addressed strategies for coordinating recently enacted health IT incentives with other promising approaches to improving health care delivery.
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Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Mark McClellan addressed the Congressional Health Care Caucus recently to discuss needed policy changes to build a health care system that supports better care at lower costs.
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Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The Obama administration’s breakthrough with the health care industry to cut costs is eerily reminiscent of the 1970s, according to Henry Aaron. Then, as today, health care spending was outpacing income growth and the industry promised to voluntarily to rein in the growth. If we are to learn from history, rather than simply repeat it, he says, there are some simple but vitally important lessons.
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Sat, 09 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Behind closed doors all over Washington, serious people are working hard to design a major overhaul of the U.S. health care system. We should wish them well, but their chances of success are slim, says Henry Aaron. Since yet another complete failure would be catastrophic, some attention should be given now to policies that, he says, are politically palatable and would begin the evolution to a new and better health system.
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Mon, 04 May 2009 12:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- May 04, 2009, 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM
With more than $19 billion planned in new federal expenditures on health information technology, the Obama administration is taking serious steps towards modernizing the U.S. health care system to reduce health care costs and medical errors. Brookings hosted a discussion on how to bring the benefits of information technology to health care in the United States.
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Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Fearing the swine flu outbreak may lead to pandemic, stock markets have declined and tourism, food and transportation industries are suffering from a lack of public confidence. Brookings expert Warwick McKibbin and Alexandra A. Sidorenko offer insight into what type of reactions we could see from the global economy.
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Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- April 27, 2009, 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Academic medical centers (AMCs) have long been integral to developing innovative treatments and assuring access to care for Americans who need the most help. The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings is launching a two-year project examining challenges facing the nation’s AMCs, particularly those in urban areas that serve a disproportionate share of lower-income and uninsured patients.
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Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee's Roundtable on Health Care Reform, Mark McClellan discussed how reform efforts are increasingly concerned with changing how health care is delivered, and how the Accountable Care Organization model could help without creating significant changes in existing payments or substantial new financial risks.
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Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Mark McClellan discusses with Bloomberg News the urgent need for U.S. health care reform and why real reform means changing the way our health care system works.
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Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Of all the major items on President Obama's agenda, health reform has the best chance of passage during the current Congress, writes William Galston. Yet, the strategic question before Congress is whether health reform will proceed on a bipartisan or Democrats-only basis.
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Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The problems of inefficient and uncertain development of cancer therapies are not new, but they have become more urgent in an era that should be defined by clinically meaningful advances in genomics and proteomics and the promise of personalized cancer therapy. Mark McClellan and Josh Benner discuss four important steps that could lead to this new era of care.
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Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Despite unprecedented biomedical achievements, Americans are sicker than they should be and are dying far too young. From the standpoint of our economy, our future and our families, Mark McClellan and Alice Rivlin discuss why the need to improve Americans' health is greater than ever.
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Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT
The promise of "e-health" remains largely unfulfilled. In Digital Medicine, Darrell West and Edward Miller investigate the factors limiting the ability of digital technology to remake health care in the United States and around the world in order to understand health care information innovation in a variety of settings.
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Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT
President Barack Obama’s budget is the subject of floor debate in the House and Senate this week. Alice Rivlin says that the budget offers good remedies for America’s economic ills, but urges Congress to make it even better by paying for the new investments and reducing the long-term deficits.
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Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:30:00 GMT
Event Information:
- March 11, 2009, 8:30 AM to 1:45 PM
As Congress and the Obama administration begin to push for health care reform, they will have to address realigning provider payment incentives to drive changes in the way health care is delivered in the United States. A policy forum on March 11 at the Brookings Institution focused on the concept of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) as a means to achieving a higher-value health care system.
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Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:29:44 GMT
Henry Aaron says health care reform is a critical step forward for the nation and needs to be strategically crafted and implemented. The economy, he adds, could be a factor affecting President Obama’s plans for tackling the issue.
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Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Henry Aaron discusses President Obama's recently-released budget and the recent White House health summit, saying that they signal the president's commitment to smart, meaningful reform.
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Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:23:33 GMT
In this video, Alice Rivlin says that President Obama's budget calls for taxing the wealthy to help pay for aggressive reform of the nation’s health care system and that the plan also seeks to curtail wasteful Medicare and Medicaid spending while increasing services and efficiency in those programs.
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Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
In order to overcome trillion-dollar deficits, the president must get spending under control – and muster a lot of political will says Isabel Sawhill: First, by getting Health Care spending under control; second, by putting Social Security on a sound financial basis; and finally by raising revenues.
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Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
That the United States faces daunting long-term budget challenges is indisputable. But the very projections—those of the Congressional Budget Office—cited to document the long-term budget challenge, show that there is no general entitlement problem, says Henry Aaron. Rather, he argues, the nation faces a daunting health care financing problem that bedevils private insurers and public programs alike.
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Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Michael O'Hanlon and Karen Driscoll discuss moves President Obama can make during the first 100 days of his term, and beyond, to combat Autism.
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Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
As U.S. policy-makers focus on how to strengthen the U.S. economy in the midst of the financial crisis, Brookings competitiveness experts stress the need for a longer-term view with policy priorities focused on how to rebuild American competitiveness through investments in people, infrastructure, ideas and green transformation.
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Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Congress quickly passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program in its opening days, but the Obama administration and congressional leaders want to do far more to extend health insurance coverage and reform the delivery of care. While obstacles that have frustrated prior reform efforts remain powerful, Henry Aaron says that the key for Obama will be to identify specific reforms that will move toward his long-term vision.
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Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Reimbursement for medication therapy management services under Medicare Part D has created an historic opportunity for the pharmacy profession to step further into the role of managing outcomes as well as delivering medications to patients. Larry Kocot and Joshua Benner discuss how pharmacy leaders can be at the forefront of change by following five specific steps.
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Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
A diverse group of experts urged President Obama, in his first budget submission, to strike a judicious balance between America’s short-term and long-term economic needs. While the need to boost spending to stimulate the economy is important, they say these short-term steps must not make it harder to achieve our long-term goals. They note that fundamental reforms of major entitlement programs and the tax system are needed to bring spending and revenues into better balance over the longer-term.
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Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
To succeed, health care reform must slow spending growth while improving quality. Mark McClellan and leading health care experts propose a new approach to help achieve more integrated and efficient care by fostering local organizational accountability for quality and costs through performance measurement and "shared savings" payment reform.
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Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Although fundamental reform of U.S. health care is clearly necessary, there are still daunting obstacle: the sheer size of the health sector, the multiplicity of powerful groups with conflicting interests, and the factionalized U.S. political system. But change is in the air and chances for health care reform seem more likely than ever. However, Henry Aaron argues not to overreach and risk failure; instead he says the focus should be on essential and achievable steps that will sustain long-term change.
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Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT
Almost 50 million Americans are uninsured, the cost of public and private health insurance is rising and the quality of care is uneven at best. Henry Aaron offers a public memo to President Obama with recommendations on how to deal with the challenges that will confront him in reforming health care. The memo is the twelfth of 12 Brookings memos on the most crucial public policy priorities facing the new president.
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Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:00:00 GMT
Event Information:
- January 16, 2009, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Almost 50 million Americans are uninsured, the cost of public and private health insurance is rising and the quality of care is uneven at best. On January 16, Henry Aaron offered a public memo to President-elect Obama with recommendations on how to deal with the challenges that will confront him in reforming health care. The memo is the twelfth of 12 Brookings memos on the most crucial public policy priorities facing the new president.