Healthcare Round Table

Wednesday November 4th 2009, 112 Kern, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Open to the public, No charge for admittance

Round table participants:  Barry Ickes (Economics), Ed Green (Economics), Ed Coulson (Economics) and John Moran (Health Policy).

Health reform is one of the most controversial political issues in the United States today. The urgency of health reform is motivated by the large number of Americans who are uninsured, (perhaps as many as 45 million people) and by health care costs that have been rising much faster than inflation. Whether and how reforms can be designed and implemented that can solve both these problems is an important question. The health sector comprises more than 15% of GDP, so any reforms will have a major impact on our economy, hence the controversy and confusion surrounding the discussion.
At Wednesday’s round table discussion, experts from Penn State’s Economics department and Health Policy department will discuss the economics of health reform and try to shed light on these issues. They will try to answer such questions as:  Will reform succeed in curbing health care inflation?  Is the public option essential to health reform? Will reform heavily burden the taxpayer?  How will private provision of health care and insurance be affected?  These and other questions will be examined.  The round table will also feature a Q&A session with the audience.