FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Hart, 401-456-8977, lhart@ric.edu
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – As Rhode Islanders brace for the upcoming rise in health care premiums, American Democracy Project at Rhode Island College hosts a panel discussion “Health Care Reform in Context: Can We Bend the Cost Curve?” on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m. in RIC’s Alger Hall, Room 110, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Providence. The event is free and open to the public.
The event kicks off with a keynote address from Alan Sager, professor of health policy and management at Boston University. Rhode Island NPR health reporter Kristin Gourlay moderates a follow-up panel discussion, whose panelists include Sager, R.I. Health and Human Services Secretary Elizabeth Roberts, UnitedHealthcare of New England CEO Stephen Farrell and Women and Infants Hospital President and COO Mark Marcantano. Among key points the discussion aims to address are:
- Why has health care spending grown so much faster than the economy?
- Why have past methods of controlling health care costs floundered?
- What are the most promising approaches to health care affordability?
The panel discussion is part of a multi-part series on health care affordability designed to promote civil discussion among patients, doctors and administrators, said Kay Israel, RIC associate professor of communication and an ADP event organizer.
“As a country, we have never been particularly innovative or successful in our efforts to address the rising costs of health care,” said Valerie Endress, RIC associate professor of communication and director of the ADP at RIC. “It’s a topic that is paramount in our students’ and the community’s minds. We felt an incentive to unpack the issue of where we’re at in terms of affordable health care today and what’s at stake in controlling costs.”
Funding for the event is in part made possible by the College Lectures Committee at RIC.
The ADP is a multi-campus initiative focused on public higher education’s role in preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens. The project began in 2003 as an initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, in partnership with The New York Times. For more information on the ADP at RIC, visit www.ric.edu/adp.
Established in 1854, Rhode Island College serves approximately 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students through its five schools: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Social Work, the School of Management and the School of Nursing. For more information, visit http://www.ric.edu.
