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Saturday November 21, 2009

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

VIDEO

Save to My PortfolioSocial Security and Medicare Solvency

Henry J. Aaron, May 14, 2009

The latest report on the solvency of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds reveals that these entitlement programs will likely run out of money sooner than expected. Senior Fellow Henry Aaron assesses the future of these two programs.

Social Security, Social Security Administration, Medicare, Retirement, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioMemo to President Obama: Ensure that Health Reform Finally Succeeds

Henry J. Aaron, February 04, 2009, Real Clear Politics

Memo to President Obama: Ensure that Health Reform Finally SucceedsCongress 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. Read More

Health Care, Health IT, Medicaid, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

PAST EVENT

Save to My PortfolioReform Health Care

Friday, January 16, 2009
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Washington, DC

Reuters/Jean-Paul PelissierAlmost 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. Read More

Health Care, U.S. Economy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioHow to Reverse the Trend of Concentrated Poverty

Alan Berube, December 28, 2008, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Alan Berube urges policy-makers to evaluate short-term opportunities and set long-term strategies in order to help Cleveland’s next generation of residents overcome the challenges of concentrated poverty. Read More

Concentrated Poverty, Unemployment, Children & Families, Earned Income Tax Credit, Economic Mobility

PAST EVENT

Save to My PortfolioFDA Sentinel Initiative: Structure, Function, and Scope

Tuesday, December 16, 2008
9:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC

A day-long public workshop on FDA's Sentinel Initiative was held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration and the eHealth Initiative Foundation and convened by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution. Read More

Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioImprove the Poverty Measure

Rebecca M. Blank and Mark H. Greenberg, December 08, 2008, Hamilton Project Discussion Paper

Improve the Poverty MeasureRebecca Blank and Mark Greenberg recommend the adoption of a new poverty measure, along the lines recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), in order to provide a more accurate measure of economic need in the United States. Read More

U.S. Poverty, Economic Mobility, U.S. Economy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

VIDEO

Save to My PortfolioHow Computer Modeling Can Avert Pandemic Outbreaks

Joshua M. Epstein, December 02, 2008

How Computer Modeling Can Avert Pandemic OutbreaksBrookings’s Center on Social and Economic Dynamics has pioneered a model that forecasts how infectious diseases like the flu spread. Center director Joshua Epstein says the Obama administration should use modeling to avert pandemic outbreaks and restore faith in the public health system.

Health Care, Agent-based Models, Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Pandemic Disease

BOOK

Save to My PortfolioUsing Taxes to Reform Health Insurance: Pitfalls and Promises

Henry J. Aaron and Leonard E. Burman, December 01, 2008

Contributors examine the role taxes currently play, the likely effects of recently introduced health savings accounts, the challenges of administering major subsidies for health insurance through the tax system, and options for using the tax system to expand health insurance coverage. Read More

Health Care, Taxes, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioMemo to the President: Decrease Poverty and Increase Opportunity

Rebecca M. Blank, November 24, 2008, The Brookings Institution

Memo to the President: Decrease Poverty and Increase OpportunityA major economic slowdown adds to the problems of lower-income Americans, who have not shared in the economic growth of the last decade. Greater investments in economic mobility and opportunity are needed. Rebecca Blank offers policy solutions and priorities for the president-elect to make greater investments in economic mobility and opportunity. Read More

U.S. Poverty, U.S. Economy, Economic Mobility, Education, Children & Families

PAST EVENT

Save to My PortfolioReal Health Care Reform in 2009

Monday, November 17, 2008
8:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Washington, DC

Real Health Care Reform in 2009With health care spending continuing to rise and an economy in crisis, what are the most promising ways forward to lower health care costs, improve care and provide sustainable coverage? How will health care reform efforts unfold with the new administration and Congress? To address these and other questions, Mark McClellan, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings, brought experts and policy-makers together to discuss the prospects for reforming our nation’s health care system. Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) gave opening remarks. Read More

Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health IT

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioRebuild Economic Confidence by Reforming Entitlements

Isabel V. Sawhill, Robert L. Bixby and Stuart Butler, November 17, 2008, The Washington Times

Rebuild Economic Confidence by Reforming Entitlements“Washington may bail out Wall Street. But who will bail out Washington?” The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour group, Robert Bixby, Stuart Butler and Isabel Sawhill, discusses the importance of fundamentally recasting Medicare versus solely focusing on immediate health care reform. Read More

Health Care, Medicare, Medicaid, Financial Markets, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioStrategic Review: Real Health Care Reform in 2009

November 17, 2008, The Brookings Institution

From the standpoint of presidential and congressional leadership heading into 2009, one thing is clear: Now is the time for action on a different vision for health care reform.

Read More

Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

PAST EVENT

Save to My PortfolioState Health Reform Series

Wednesday, October 08, 2008
8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
Washington, DC

State Health Reform SeriesReducing the number of people without insurance coverage remains an important policy priority at both the state and federal levels. However, current financial challenges and budget shortfalls mean that in addition to expanding affordable coverage options, policymakers must continue to seek ways to improve the delivery of care – and at lower costs. Read More

Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioHealthy Choice: A Step-by-Step approach to Universal Health Care

Henry J. Aaron, September 29, 2008, The New Republic

Many Democrats see a return to the White House a call to resume the fight for full-blown national health insurance. Henry Aaron argues, a more modest, step-by-step approach carries a greater chance of success and—even more important—a smaller chance of devastating failure. Read More

Health Care, Politics, Governance, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Save to My PortfolioMaking Work Pay – Again

Ron Haskins, September 15, 2008, First Focus

Ron Haskins offers ways policymakers could create an entitlement to housing assistance that would more fairly distribute housing benefits and convert housing into a more effective element in the nation’s work support system. The goal of reform would be to get the most out of the resources now devoted to housing by providing at least some benefit to all eligible families that want a housing subsidy. Read More

Working Poor, Labor, Children & Families, U.S. Poverty, Earned Income Tax Credit

In Brief

The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for “protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.” The department has more than 300 programs, including medical research, food and drug safety and disease prevention.

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Featured Experts

Alice M. Rivlin

Alice M. Rivlin

Senior Fellow, Economic Studies

Alice Rivlin, the first director of the Congressional Budget Office, is an expert on urban issues as well as fiscal, monetary and social policy. She directs the Greater Washington Research project. 
Read More

Mark B. McClellan

Mark B. McClellan

Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform
Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies

A medical doctor and economist, Mark McClellan works on promoting high-quality, innovative and affordable health care. Once commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. McClellan now directs the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform.
Read More

Isabel V. Sawhill

Isabel V. Sawhill

Senior Fellow, Economic Studies
The Cabot Family Chair

A nationally known budget expert, Isabel Sawhill focuses on domestic poverty and federal fiscal policy. She is also co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings.
Read More

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Spotlight

TopicEducation

The economic and political well-being of any society requires a well-educated citizenry. Brookings’s work extends beyond the K-12 bookends to include pre-school interventions, higher education and the challenges of education in developing countries.

Research ProjectBrookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement

The Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement monitors displacement problems worldwide, works with governments, regional bodies, international organizations and civil society to create more effective policies and institutional arrangements for Internally Displaed Persons.

TopicHealth Care

Brookings is committed to producing innovative policy solutions to our nation’s most difficult challenges. The country may face no more important domestic policy challenge than the much-needed reform of our health care system. Through an institution-wide effort, Brookings delivers new ideas and offers policy solutions to improve health care both at home and globally.

ExpertMwangi S. Kimenyi

Mwangi S. Kimenyi is a senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative. He focuses on Africa's development, including institutions for economic growth, the political economy, and private sector development.

Policy CenterCenter on Children and Families

The Center on Children and Families studies policies on the well-being of America's children and their parents and seeks a more effective means of addressing poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity in the United States.

ExpertVanda Felbab-Brown

Vanda Felbab-Brown focuses on the national security implications of illicit economies and strategies for managing them. She is an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

ExpertSuzanne Maloney

Suzanne Maloney studies Iran, the political economy of the Persian Gulf and Middle East energy policy. A former U.S. State Department policy advisor, she has also counseled private companies on Middle East issues.

ExpertTed Gayer

Ted Gayer is the co-director of the Economic Studies program and the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He conducts research on a variety of economic issues, focusing particularly on public finance, environmental and energy economics, housing, and regulatory policy.

ProgramGovernance Studies

Governance Studies explores political institutions of the United States and other democracies to assess how they govern, how their practices compare and how citizens and public servants can advance sound governance.

Research ProjectLatin America Initiative

The Latin America Initiative provides high-quality, in-depth, and independent research across a range of economic and political issues, and offers policy recommendations aimed at U.S. and Latin American policymakers.

ExpertIsabel V. Sawhill

A nationally known budget expert, Isabel Sawhill focuses on domestic poverty and federal fiscal policy. She is also co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings.

ExpertMark McClellan

Mark McClellan works on promoting high-quality, innovative and affordable health care. Once commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Dr. McClellan now directs the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform.

ExpertAmy Liu

Amy Liu is deputy director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. Her policy studies include economic competitiveness, metropolitan growth and development, governance reforms, urban reinvestment, and social equity.

Policy CenterEngelberg Center for Health Care Reform

The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform provides practical solutions to achieve high-quality, innovative, affordable health care with particular emphasis on identifying opportunities on the national, state and local levels.

ExpertDomenico Lombardi

As president of the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy, Domenico Lombardi’s work at Brookings focuses on the international financial crisis and the reform of the IMF and the World Bank. He is an expert on G-20 and G8 Summits.

ExpertFederiga Bindi

Federiga Bindi is a leading expert on European political integration. She has a broad experience in government and held a number of posts in international organizations. Bindi currently serves as an advisor to the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Her research focuses on the EU, transatlantic relations; EU states foreign policies, global governance issues.