Vanderbilt experts available to talk about the health care reform debate
When it comes to the issue of health care co-ops, Burcham says they're a "kinder, gentler" way to talk about the "public option." He thinks that co-ops may make a reform package easier for conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans to swallow, but many major stumbling blocks remain, including the cost of covering millions of uninsured individuals.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Former Obama health care advisor, Betts Chair and Professor of Education and Human Development, Peabody College of Education and Human Development
Turner, an expert on mental health policy and family therapy, served from 2007-2008 in the office of then-senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow.
Turner can discuss both the evolution and history of health care reform and the key issues he believes are being lost in the current debate over how the nation will pay for health care. “What’s most disappointing is that we’re really only talking about how to pay for health care,” Turner said. “Though costs are enormously important, what I heard from every physicians and nurses group during my time on Capitol Hill was the need to overhaul health care in general--from how we provide care, to workforce issues, to mental health. The debate needs to be broader than costs.” Turner has served on scientific study sections at the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Larry Van Horn, associate professor of health care management and director of health care programs, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management
Van Horn is an expert on health care management and economics. He’s done extensive research on health care organizations, managerial incentives in nonprofit hospitals and the conduct of managed care. He’s writing a book with Tennessee congressman Jim Cooper on the business of health care.
Van Horn says what we should fear is doing nothing. He says if we don’t act soon, our entire federal budget will be consumed by health care costs. “Can you imagine our country without money for defense or education,” said Van Horn. He also thinks some of the keys to fixing the U.S. health care system are to hold people accountable for their actions and treat health insurance like auto or life insurance. How a person takes care of him or herself should come back to that person in terms of underlying health insurance risk. Van Horn said this treatment of health care could result in lowering rates by separating a person’s day-to-day health care needs, such as check-ups, from serious health emergencies. Watch Larry Van Horn talking about the health care crisis here: http://tinyurl.com/cxh8h4.
James Blumstein, University Professor of constitutional law and health law and policy; director, Health Policy Center, Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies
Blumstein ranks among the nation’s most prominent scholars of health law, law and medicine, and voting rights. As founder of the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies ( VIPPS ) and director of its Health Policy Center, Professor Blumstein has served as the principal investigator on numerous grants concerning managed care, hospital management and medical malpractice. He co-authored a major study on TennCare, one of the first statewide experiments in universally enrolling Medicaid patients in managed care. He has been elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and is co-editor of a leading casebook on health law and policy.
Bruce Oppenheimer, professor of political science
Oppenheimer teaches and writes about the legislative process, political parties and congressional elections. He co-authored the award-winning book Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation. In addition, he is co-editor of Congress Reconsidered, now in its eighth edition.
Intense debate over health care reform continues, but the real action is happening in D.C., not in those town hall forums, says Oppenheimer. The expert on Congress and legislative policy can discuss the complex strategies behind putting together and passing a health care bill. “While many town hall participants focus on a simple yes or no vote on reform, interest groups are busy behind the scenes jockeying on specific provisions ranging from reimbursement rates to prescription drug prices.” Oppenheimer is also watching a strategic game between the White House and the GOP. “It’s a little bit of a chicken game with implicit threats on both sides,” he said.
Michael Burcham, clinical professor of entrepreneurship, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management
Burcham is also former president of ParadigmHealth, a specialty care and disease management firm. So far, ParadigmHealth has managed more than 150,000 patients nationwide, focusing primarily on medically complex infants and patients with late-stage cancer, end-of-life care issues and multiple traumas.
When it comes to the issue of health care co-ops, Burcham says they’re a “kinder, gentler” way to talk about the “public option.” He thinks that co-ops may make a reform package easier for conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans to swallow, but many major stumbling blocks remain, including the cost of covering millions of uninsured individuals. “To accomplish that, somebody’s taxes will probably have to go up — a tough vote even in good economic times,” said Burcham.
Media Contact: Amy Wolf, ( 615 ) 322-NEWS amy.wolf@vanderbilt.edu
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