Career Development : Calendar

Chicago chapter: What’s next for the states on health reform?

05/08/12     Chicago, IL

The waiting is the hardest part. So while we wait for a decision from the Supreme Court on President Barack Obama’s landmark health law, the Chicago chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists has an event for you. Come join us as we play the Supreme Court guessing game and pose the question: “What’s next for the states on health reform?”

When: Tuesday, May 8. Refreshments at 6 p.m. Speakers at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Columbia College, 33 E. Congress, Chicago (northwest corner of Congress and Wabash). Room C219.
RSVP: If you plan to attend, send an email to Carla Johnson at AHCJ_chicago@mac.com.
SPONSORS: Association of Health Care Journalists, Alliance for Health Reform, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Thank you to Columbia College Journalism Department for the venue.

SPEAKERS:

• Michael Gelder is senior health care policy adviser to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. He advises the governor on national health reform, Medicaid, managed care, long term care reform, global budgeting, electronic medical records and health information exchange. He represents the governor’s office with health care provider associations, advocates and other stakeholders. Gelder was appointed by the governor to serve as chairman of the health reform implementation task force established by executive order on July 29, 2010.

• Joe Carlson is a Chicago-based reporter for Modern Healthcare. In March, he was among about 100 journalists with a view of the historic arguments before the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act. He covers legal affairs, including health reform, fraud and compliance, labor and regulatory news. He joined Modern Healthcare in 2008.

• Lynn A. Blewett is principal investigator and director of the State Health Access Data Assistance Center and professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She also directs the State Health Access Reform Evaluation, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Program Office to fund and synthesize rigorous evaluation of state health reform initiatives.

MODERATOR:

• Ed Howard is the founding executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform, a nonpartisan, nonprofit health policy group in Washington, D.C., that he formed in 1991 with Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Howard and his staff have organized almost 500 briefings for members of Congress and their staffs, for reporters, for Executive Branch staff and for health-related groups.