The future of health care in Michigan and the nation will
be discussed at a 2006 National Health Care Policy Michigan
Forum Saturday, Oct. 14, 2 p.m., EMU Convocation Center.
Eastern Michigan University sponsors the forum, which
is one of only five such forums hosted by states this fall.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos,
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Michigan Congressman John
Dingell, healthcare policy expert Henry Simmons and Richard
Douglass, EMU's own healthcare policy expert, are expected
to attend the forum. John Fallon, president of EMU, will
provide welcoming remarks.
The national health care policy forum represents collaboration
between the National Health Policy Council, the AARP and
the National Coalition on Health Care to create an opportunity
for gubernatorial candidates, as well as a panel of health
care policy experts, to discuss the future of health care.
The health care policy forum will:
- Provide an opportunity for Michigan's gubernatorial candidates
to publicly discuss their positions on health care policy
and discuss matters of importance to every citizen of the
state;
- Provide a question-and-answer session in which audience
members can engage the candidates in further conversation
about health care policy;
- Offer the perspectives of experts who are part of the
national conversation about health care policy; and
- Include a moderated experts panel that will further address
the core issues related to health care policy.
Dingell, who will provide introductory remarks, has been
vigilant in his pursuit of a "Patients Bill of Rights," which
will ensure patients' care is in the hands of doctors,
not HMOs and insurance companies. At the beginning of every
session of Congress, Dingell introduces the national health
insurance bill his father sponsored when he was a member.
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Granholm |
The forum' signature speakers are:
Granholm recently highlighted the work being done to provide
universal access to affordable health care in Michigan.
This included the two-year anniversary of the MiRx prescription
drug discount card and continued negotiations with the
federal government to implement the Michigan First Health
Care Plan.
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DeVos |
DeVos, Republican candidate for Michigan governor, has
said he will work to rein in the cost of health insurance
for working families and job providers. The state's health
care system will be better as long as individuals and medical
professionals are empowered, he said. DeVos points to the
legal system as a major part of the problem and believes
lawsuit abuse must be reined in.
Simmons has served as president of the National Coalition
on Health Care since the organization's inception in 1990.
The Coalition is the nation's largest and most broadly
representative alliance working to improve America's health
care system.
Huckabee has been a leader in improving
health care for Arkansas. He created the ARKids First program,
a nationally recognized initiative that provides health
insurance to tens of thousands of children who previously
had no access to health insurance. Huckabee created the
Healthy Arkansas initiative to encourage Arkansans to stop
smoking, exercise more and eat healthier. He has expanded
that initiative to the Healthy America program.
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Douglass |
Since 2004, Douglass has focused his
research in Michigan on the status of Medicaid-dependent
nursing homes in urban areas and the challenges that are
faced by these institutions that care for the most vulnerable
people in society. Douglass has served on numerous faculty
committees at the college and university levels, and has
been the program director in EMU's Department of Health
Administration for 15 of the last 18 years.
Tickets to the forum are free, but must be obtained in
advance at www.emich.edu/healthforum/
