Health Reform for New Health Reform Reporters

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

For reporters who normally cover topics other than health reform, today’s reform debates can mean playing catch-up. They may be facing a new vocabulary – public plan option, health insurance cooperative, employer mandate, individual mandate. Maybe they're trying to figure out what all this means for readers, viewers or listeners.

To help speed reporters along the learning curve, the Alliance for Health Reform sponsored a July 1 briefing. The webcast and resource materials compiled will be valuable for anyone wanting an overview of the health reform process in Washington to date, and where it's headed.

Featured were: Dean Rosen, a partner at the public affairs firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc. and head of the firm’s health practice, with Ed Howard, head of the Alliance for Health Reform and a veteran of health reform efforts going back to 1989.

Prior to joining Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Mr. Rosen held a series of high-level positions in both government and the private sector. He was the chief health care advisor to former Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, M.D (R-TN), after serving as staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Public Health. Previously, he was senior vice president of policy and general counsel for the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA). Mr. Rosen came to HIAA from the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. He also served as health policy coordinator and majority counsel to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

Mr. Howard has headed up the Alliance for Health Reform since its formation in 1991. Earlier, he served as the general counsel for the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care, the “Pepper Commission,” which reported to Congress on ways to assure access to health care and long-term care for all Americans.

 

Speakers

Dean Rosen, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc. , Speaker Ed Howard, Alliance for Health Reform, Speaker

Transcript, Event Summary and/or Webcast and Podcast

Transcript: Health Reform for New Health Reform Reporters (Adobe Acrobat PDF), 7/1/2009 Full Webcast/Podcast: Health Reform for New Health Reform Reporters

The full webcast and podcast for this briefing, as well as videos of individual speakers' presentations, are provided by Kaiser Family Foundation.

Speaker Presentations

Dean Rosen Presentation (PowerPoint), 7/1/2009

Source Materials

Speaker Biographies (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Alliance for Health Reform, 7/1/2009 Materials List (Adobe Acrobat PDF), Alliance for Health Reform, 7/1/2009

Offsite Materials (briefing documents saved on other websites)

Health Care Reporting For Journalists (Adobe Acrobat PDF),New America Foundation, 6/1/2009 Health Care Reform: An Introduction (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Congressional Research Office, 4/14/2009 Health Care Reform and the Federal Budget (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Congressional Budget Office, 6/16/2009 Focus on Health Reform: Health Care Reform Proposals (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/1/2009 Big, Small or Nothing At All? Three Scenarios For Health Reform, Kaiser Health News, 6/1/2009 Options for Financing Health Reform: Comparing the Impact of Selected Policy Options (Adobe Acrobat PDF),The Commonwealth Fund, 6/1/2009 Short Summary of the Patients' Choice Act (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Congressman Paul Ryan, 5/20/2009 Kennedy, HELP Committee Democrats Announce the Affordable Health Choices Act (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, 6/9/2009 Key Features of the Tri-Committee Health Reform Draft Proposal in the U.S. House of Reps. (Adobe Acrobat PDF),House Committee on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor, 6/9/2009 Baucus, Grassley Release Policy Options For Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Senate Finance Committee, 5/18/2009 President Obama's Fiscal 2010 Budget: Transforming and Modernizing America's Health Care System, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, 6/1/2009 Health Care Reform: Asked and Answered, The Briefing Room blog, the White House, 6/25/2009 Health Policy Brief: A Public Health Insurance Plan (Adobe Acrobat PDF),The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Health Affairs, 6/19/2009 High and rising health care costs: Demystifying U.S. health care spending (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 10/1/2008 Chapter One: Health Reform, from Covering Health Issues, Alliance for Health Reform, 6/22/2009 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Public Opinion on Health Care Issues (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Kaiser Family Foundation, 6/1/2009 Lessons Learned: The Health Reform Debate of 1993-1994 (Adobe Acrobat PDF),Alliance for Health Reform, 10/1/2008

Photos

Dean Rosen, head of the health practice at the public affairs firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc., gave reporters a review of what's happened with health reform legislation over the past nine months and offered predictions about what's ahead. From the July 1 briefing.	Ed Howard, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform, helped reporters get up to speed on health reform legislation at a July 1 briefing at the Alliance. Also on the panel: Dean Rosen, head of the health practice at the public affairs firm Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc.