Experts to discuss future of health care in Missouri and across the country Oct. 16

Oct. 8, 2008 -- What does the future hold for health care in Missouri and across the country?

Leading health-care experts from The Brookings Institution, Washington University in St. Louis and the state of Missouri will explore this issue during a free conference at 8 a.m. Oct. 16 in the Eric P. Newman Education Center Auditorium at the School of Medicine.

The conference, "Reforming Health Care: Perspectives from Missouri and Across the Nation," is sponsored by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at The Brookings Institution as well as the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, the Institute for Public Health and the Center for Health.

In addition to health-care and health-policy leaders from the University, conference speakers include Mark McClellan, M.D., director of the Engelberg Center and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Susan Nestor Levy, chief advocacy officer at Ascension Health; Charles Willey, M.D., chief executive of Esse Health; and James Kimmey, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive of the Missouri Foundation for Health.

Speakers will focus on how current policies must change to expand care innovation and maximize impact; the prospects for reform; and comparisons of reform proposals in terms of cost, quality and access to care.

For more information, contact Terri Behr at 935-6630.