Show Me the Money: Options for Financing Health Reform

As the key congressional committees draft health reform legislation, they are keenly mindful of the costs of various provisions. Congress will look to an array of options, including both savings from the health care system and new revenues, to finance coverage expansions and reforms to both the delivery system and insurance markets. What options hold the most promise? How do the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) go about “scoring” various financing options? Are there credible options for financing reform? Is there room for bipartisan cooperation in paying for reform? This July 31 briefing, cosponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, addressed these and related questions.

Panelists were: Uwe Reinhardt, health economist at Princeton University; Bill Hoagland, vice president for public policy at CIGNA and former Senate Budget Committee staff director; Mark McClellan, senior fellow and director of the Engelberg Center for Healthcare Reform at the Brookings Institution, former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and Chris Jennings, president of Jennings Policy Strategies and former senior health policy advisor to President Clinton. Ed Howard of the Alliance and Rachel Nuzum of The Commonwealth Fund moderated.

Transcript

Full Transcript (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Speaker Presentations

Rachel Nuzum’s Presentation (PowerPoint)
Bill Hoagland’s Presentation (PowerPoint)
Uwe Reinhardt’s Presentation (PowerPoint)

Event Details

Agenda (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Speaker Biographies (Adobe Acrobat PDF)