What Are The Prospects For Medicare Reform This Year?

NCPA, NABE Health Economics Roundtable To Host Briefing On Medicare's Future

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 23, 2001) — The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) and the National Association for Business Economics' (NABE) Health Economics Roundtable will co-sponsor a Capitol Hill briefing to answer some of the critical questions about the chances for Medicare reforms this Congress. The briefing, which comes a day before the House Ways & Means Committee hearing on Medicare related issues, will feature two of the nation's leading experts on Medicare and prescription drug policy.

Some of the questions to be addressed at the briefing include:

  • How will the push for Medicare reform be affected by the recent trustees report showing an extra four years of solvency?
  • Will the Breaux-Frist reform bill garner enough bipartisan support?
  • Will the president's "Immediate Helping Hand" proposal be D.O.A.?
  • What are the chances of passing a prescription drug benefit of any type in an evenly divided Senate and a closely divided House?

WHO: National Center For Policy Analysis, National Association For Business Economics, Gail R. Wilensky, Ph.D., Chair, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; John M. Olin Senior Fellow, Project Hope; Robert Goldberg, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, NCPA. Moderators: John C. Goodman, Ph.D., President, NCPA Founding Member, NABE Health Policy Roundtable; Jim Rodgers, V.P., NABE Health Policy Roundtable, V.P., Health Policy, American Medical Association

WHAT: "Medicare's Future: How Congress Intends To Address Prescription Drug Benefits And Market Competition"

WHEN: Monday, March 26, 2001, 4:00 To 5:15 PM EST

WHERE: 2168 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.