Past Event


Has Medicare Been Privatized?


12:00 AM - 11:59 PM EST

Has Medicare Been Privatized? 
Implications of the Medicare Modernization Act, Beyond the Drug Benefit

Featuring:

Chip Kahn, President, Federation of American Hospitals
Marilyn Moon, Vice President and Director, Health Program, American Institute for Research
Jeanne Lambrew, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Moderated by:

Karen Davenport, Director of Health Policy, Center for American Progress

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) is widely known for creating Medicare Part D, a new outpatient prescription drug program for Medicare beneficiaries. However, other sections of the MMA — notably the Medicare Advantage program — could change Medicare in ways that may be less recognized than the Part D program, but are equally profound. Specifically, these changes, the nature of the drug benefit, and their effects on coverage that supplements Medicare could result in a large shift in enrollment to Medicare Advantage plans. This event will explore why this may occur and its implications for costs, quality and access to care.

Thursday, February 9, 2006
Program: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Light refreshments will be provided.
Admission is free.

Center for American Progress
1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Map and Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange: McPherson Square, Red: Metro Center

Click here to RSVP
or call (202) 741-6246

Biographies:

Chip Kahn is President of the Federation of American Hospitals, the national advocacy organization for investor-owned hospitals and health systems. Mr. Kahn became the Federation’s President in June 2001. Mr. Kahn is one of the nation’s preeminent experts on health policy and Medicare issues, and his leadership on health care issues and in the political arena is well recognized. Since becoming President of the Federation, The Hill newspaper, in March 2003, selected him as one of the capital’s top “rainmakers” for the third consecutive year. Mr. Kahn also has been acknowledged as one of two “major movers” of an effort sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to bring together a diverse, “strange bedfellows” coalition of often-opposing major national advocacy organizations to seek solutions to extending health coverage to the uninsured. Before coming to the Federation, Mr. Kahn was one of the nation’s top leaders in the health insurance industry. As President of the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), he focused national attention on the plight of the uninsured, effectively placing this issue at the forefront of the national public policy agenda. Under his leadership, HIAA dramatically increased its membership and prestige, and was named by Fortune magazine for three consecutive years as the nation’s most influential insurance trade association in its “Power 25” list of Washington, DC-based lobbying organizations. For many years, Mr. Kahn held key staff positions on Capitol Hill. During 1995-1998, he played a critical role in passage of significant health legislation while serving as staff director for the Health Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Kahn also served as minority health counsel for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee from 1986-1993, and as senior health policy advisor to former Senator David Durenberger (R-MN) and legislative assistant for health to former Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN). Mr. Kahn holds a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, which in 2001 bestowed upon him its prestigious “Champion of Public Health” award. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Johns Hopkins University.

Marilyn Moon, Ph.D. is Vice President and Director of the Health Program at AIR. She is a nationally-known expert on Medicare and social insurance. She previously served as a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and as a public trustee for the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Marilyn Moon has published extensively on health policy, both for the elderly and the population in general, and is frequently quoted in the media. Recent publications include: A Place at the Table: Women’s Needs and Medicare Reform, published by the Century Foundation; and “The Future of Medicare as an Entitlement Program.” From 1993 to 2000, Moon wrote a periodic column for the Washington Post on health reform and health coverage issues. Dr. Moon has served on a number of boards for non-profit organizations and is currently President of the board of the Medicare Rights Center. Moon earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously, she was an associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a senior analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, and the founding Director of the Public Policy Institute of the American Association of Retired Persons.

Jeanne Lambrew is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and an Associate Professor at George Washington University, where she teaches health policy and conducts policy-relevant research on the uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare, and long-term care. Lambrew worked on health policy at the White House from 1997 through 2001, as the Program Associate Director for Health at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and as the Senior Health Analyst at the National Economic Council. In these roles, she helped coordinate health policy development, evaluated legislative proposals, and conducted and managed analyses and cost estimates with OMB, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury Department, the Labor Department and other relevant agencies. She was the White House lead on drafting and implementing the Children’s Health Insurance Program and helped develop the President’s Medicare reform plan, initiative on long-term care, and other health care proposals. She also worked at the Department of Health and Human Services during the 1993-1994 health reform efforts, and coordinated analyses of budget proposals in 1995. Prior to serving at the White House, Lambrew was an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University (1996). She received her Masters and Ph.D. from the Department of Health Policy, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bachelor’s degree from Amherst College.

Karen Davenport is Director of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Before joining CAP, she served as Washington Director for the Medicare Rights Center, coordinating the organization’s national policy activities, partnership development and fundraising activities. As a Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she developed and managed national programs dedicated to increasing health insurance coverage and improving long-term care financing and services for frail elders and people with disabilities. As a Legislative Assistant to Senator Bob Kerrey, she was responsible for staffing the Senator’s work on Medicare, Medicaid, public health, welfare and social issues. Her earlier federal experience includes serving as a specialist in Medicaid legislation for the Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and serving on the White House Health Care Reform Task Force. Before entering public service, she worked at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in Seattle. Davenport earned an MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a BA in political science from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.

 

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