HIGH AND RISING COSTS: DEMYSTIFYING U.S. HEALTH CARE SPENDING

I have seen an advance copy of this very comprehensive report on the growth in health care spending. If you are in DC next week, I highly recommend this event to you:

HIGH AND RISING COSTS: DEMYSTIFYING U.S. HEALTH CARE SPENDING

New Report Synthesizes the Literature on the Growth of Health Care Spending

Concern about high and rising health care costs in the United States has increased sharply in recent years. With the increase in costs and the lack of affordability of health insurance for many Americans, health policy experts are discussing whether steps can be taken to expand insurance coverage while keeping costs down.

A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Synthesis Project sheds light on the driving forces behind health care spending and examines the reasons why health care costs continue to rise.

An October 15 briefing with the report’s author and other leading voices in health care will address:

• What are the historical data on health care spending?
• How does U.S. spending on health care compare with other developed nations?
• What are the primary drivers of the growth in health care spending?
• What options do policy-makers have for restraining health care spending?

SPEAKERS
• Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., President – Center for Studying Health System Change (Synthesis Report Author)
• Robert Galvin, M.D., Director of Global Healthcare – General Electric
• Robert Laszewski, President – Health Policy and Strategy Associates, LLC
• John R. Lumpkin, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President & Director of the Health Care Group – Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation
• David Nexon, Senior Executive Vice President – Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)

WHEN/WHERE:
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. (Breakfast available at 9:00 a.m.)
National Press Club
First Amendment Lounge, 13th Floor
529 14th Street, N.W. – Washington, D.C. 20045

TO RESERVE A SEAT:
To reserve a seat, please R.S.V.P. to Erica Garland at egarland@gymr.com or 202-745-5119.