The Aspen Institute's Health Stewardship Project to Host a Health Policy Symposium

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Aspen Institute's Health Stewardship Project will host a Health Policy Symposium on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at the Newseum. The innovative symposium will kick off with welcoming remarks at 8:00 AM followed by several panel discussions and keynote remarks that seek to shed light on the new federal health law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This gathering will concentrate on wise use of health IT, comparative effectiveness research (CER) and innovation, the role of the newly created Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).  The discussion will also examine additional health insurance models and requirements created by the Affordable Care Act such as the heightened emphasis on preventive services.

Highlights include a morning keynote by author and political strategist Doug Schoen discussing potential advantages and burdens posed by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at the state, local and federal levels of government as well as their potential impact on patients and health care providers.  The afternoon session will feature a keynote address from Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack on the federal response to childhood obesity as well as new efforts to improve health through preventative measures.  Other afternoon sessions will include discussions on debugging Health IT, implications for CER and how we safeguard innovation while ensuring that research results are relevant and valuable to doctors and patients as well as new insurance models and the IPAB.

Established in 2007, the Aspen Health Stewardship Project is a bipartisan effort to improve the health of the American people by suffusing health care reform with core principles that place the common interests ahead of the special interests. With the help of the newly formed coalition, the project seeks to inform the policymaking process and to refocus the national dialogue on what it will take and what each constituency can do to help steward our shared health resources.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has an international network of partners.

SOURCE The Aspen Institute