At the 2008 Mayo Clinic National Symposium on Health Care Reform, a panel of expert guests joined with representatives of the three remaining major-party presidential candidates to discuss how the candidates’ health reform proposals coincide with or differ from the principles developed through the symposia and policy forums convened through the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. The panel was moderated by Cokie Roberts and featured Steven Pearlstein from the Washington Post, Karen Davis from the Commonwealth Fund and Elizabeth McGlynn from RAND Health, as well as representatives from the Clinton, McCain and Obama campaigns.

Panel Discussion on Presidential Platforms

Tom Brokaw moderated a panel discussion on coordination of care, with the following members:

Donald Berwick, M.D., president and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). Dr. Berwick is one of the nation’s leading authorities on health care quality and improvement issues. An elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Dr. Berwick recently completed his second term on the IOM’s governing council. He served on President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry.

George Isham, M.D., chief health officer and plan medical director of HealthPartners. He is a founding board member of the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, a collaborative of Twin Cities medical groups and health plans that is implementing clinical practice guidelines in Minnesota. He is co-author of Epidemic of Care, which examines the impending health care crisis and provides suggestions for solving it.

Nancy Nielsen, M.D., Ph.D., president-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA). Dr. Nielsen has served as a member of the National Patient Safety Foundation board of directors, the Commission for the Prevention of Youth Violence, and the Task Force on Quality and Patient Safety. She represents the AMA on quality initiatives including the National Quality Forum and the AMA Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement.

Andrew Mekelburg, vice president for Federal Government Relations for Verizon, where he is responsible for working with Congress and the administration on non-telecommunications issues such as health care, education, labor, human resources and government procurement issues. Mekelburg is chairman of the Corporate Health Care Coalition, a public policy coalition of large, multi–state, self-insured companies that operate health benefit plans for employees and their families as well as retirees.

Coordinated Care

Tom Brokaw led four panelists in a recap of the first policy forum, the topic of which was Health Insurance for All Americans. These panelists represented a cross-section of the forum participants, and included:

John Rother, director of Policy and Strategy for AARP. Rother is responsible for the federal and state public policies of AARP, for international initiatives and for formulating the organization’s overall strategic direction. He is an authority on Medicare, managed care, long-term care, Social Security, pensions and the challenges facing the baby boomer generation.

Linda Dillman, executive vice president of Risk Management, Benefits and Sustainability at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Since joining Wal-Mart in 1991, she has held several key information systems management positions. She was named to Fortune magazine’s list of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” every year from 2003 to 2007.

Michael Cascone Jr., chairman emeritus of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. During his tenure as chief executive officer, the company continued to increase the number of Floridians it served to more than 6 million and maintained external financial ratings that were among the highest in the country. Cascone currently serves on the board of The Alliance for Advancing Nonprofit Healthcare and on the advisory council for the University of North Florida’s Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy.

Ashley Thompson, director of Policy for the American Hospital Association (AHA), the national organization representing all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Thompson leads the association’s ongoing development of a national framework for improving America’s health and health care. She also is responsible for the development of policy positions on emerging issues such as pay-for-performance and transparency.

Universal Coverage

Tom Brokaw led a discussion featuring some of the leading thinkers on health care reform, including:

Ian Morrison, Ph.D., an internationally known author, consultant and futurist specializing in long-term forecasting and planning with particular emphasis on health care and the changing business environment.

Michael Porter, Ph.D., the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, based at Harvard Business School. Dr. Porter is co-author of Redefining Competition in Health Care and Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results.

Gary Kaplan, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Virginia Mason Medical Center. Dr. Kaplan serves on the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Services Board and is past chair of the MGMA board of directors.

Jim Guest, president and chief executive officer of Consumers Union. Guest also serves on the Board of Consumers International, a global federation of 250 organizations from 115 countries.

A recap of the session is available at http://tinyurl.com/2726gm.

Panel Discussion – Building a Mandate for Change

Dennis Rivera chairs SEIU Healthcare, a newly created organization of more than 1,000,000 health care workers that is dedicated to organizing America’s millions of unorganized health care workers and fixing the country’s broken health care system. SEIU Healthcare was launched in June 2007 as the health care division of the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), America’s largest labor union.

Dennis Rivera – Labor Perspective

Helen Darling is president of the National Business Group on Health, which is dedicated to providing practical solutions to its employer-members’ most important health care problems. Its 292 members, including 65 of the Fortune 100 in 2006, purchase health and disability benefits for more than 50 million employees, retirees and dependents. 

Helen Darling – Business Perspective

Tom Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News,” was NBC’s White House correspondent during Watergate; served as anchor of “Today;” and was the sole anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw” from 1983 until stepping down from the anchor desk in 2004.

A member of Mayo Clinic’s Board of Trustees, Brokaw gave the keynote address for the 2008 Mayo Clinic National Symposium on Health Care Reform.

Tom Brokaw Keynote

Robert Smoldt is the executive director of Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center and chief administrative officer emeritus of Mayo Clinic. Smoldt, a recognized speaker on the health care environment, also has been active in the Medical Group Management Association. He has chaired the organization’s research and marketing committees and has moderated its international conference in London, England.

In his welcome to participants, Smoldt outlined the goals for their work product over the two-day symposium.

Robert Smoldt Overview of Symposium Goals

Pat Mitchell, co-host for the 2008 Mayo Clinic National Symposium for Health Care Reform, welcomes participants to the event.

Mitchell, a former president and chief executive officer of the Public Broadcasting Service, is president and chief executive officer of The Paley Center for Media. During her 30-year career as a journalist, producer and media executive, Mitchell’s work has received 44 Emmy Awards and two Academy Award nominations.

Pat Mitchell Welcome

Mayo Clinic President and CEO Denis Cortese, M.D., gave the opening address welcoming participants to the Mayo Clinic National Symposium on Health Care Reform, March 10, 2008 at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va. Dr. Cortese shared Mayo Clinic’s organizational commitment and vision.

Opening Address by Denis Cortese, M.D.