Cancelled due to coronavirus On the advice of the local public health officer and out of concern for the safety and well-being of our members and guests, the March 12 Forum has been cancelled. Please check back for further announcements. “Should the U.S. provide basic health care to all its citizens, and if so, how?”
This election year will again bring health care front and center. Some want Medicare for all; some want to scrap Obamacare; some want to modify Obamacare. What’s the best way forward?
This forum will reveal the underlying ethical assumptions, complexity, and effectiveness of our healthcare system.
Obamacare took a step toward providing basic health care for all citizens. Yet the 26 million who remain uninsured can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs of a doctor visit, let alone medicines and treatments prescribed.
Should basic health care in the richest country in the world depend on income level? So far the U.S. has said, “Yes.” All other developed countries have said, “No.”
That answer led these countries (France, Germany, and Japan, for example) to devise plans that include a combination of both non-profit governmental and free-market components. They incentivize preventive care and essentially eliminate the question of pre-existing conditions. The result is an overall cost at about half that of the United States, and better overall outcomes for their entire population.
Forum Speakers:
Martha Parry Clark is a retired CEO with global executive experience in the health non-profit, asset management, and banking industries. Key executive roles included Interim CEO of the American Diabetes Association (currently on their Board), Americas CEO for AXA Rosenberg, and SVP of Compensation and Benefits for Wells Fargo Bank.
Dr. Roger Stark is a retired cardiac surgeon and is a health care policy analyst at Washington Policy Center, one of the largest state-based think tanks in the country. He is the author of numerous health care studies including The Impact of Federal Health Care Reform on Washington State and the book “The Patient Centered Solution”. He has had multiple media appearances on both radio and news television. He has testified before Congress on Medicaid, the state health insurance exchanges, and CO-OPs in the Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Stark has served on the Governing Board of Overlake Hospital in Bellevue and is the past Chairman of Overlake’s Foundation Board. He is a member of many professional organizations.