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Examining HealthCare Vouchers
with Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center,
National Institutes of Health
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
The Governor Hotel, Heritage Ballroom
614 SW 11th Avenue, Portland
In an article two years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and his colleague Dr. Victor Fuchs, emeritus professor of economics at Stanford University, coined the phrase “HealthCare Vouchers” as a national reform plan for our broken health care system. Since then, they’ve presented their paper to the Brookings Institute and gained national attention for the proposal’s ten fundamental principles, outlined here:
- Guaranteed health care for all Americans
- Comprehensive benefits
- Free choice of plan and providers
- Freedom to purchase additional services
- Funding by an earmarked value-added tax
- End of employer-based health insurance
- Phasing out of Medicare and Medicaid
- Independent oversight
- Cost and quality control
- Patient safety and dispute resolution
Surely, your interest is piqued after reading these bold assertions. How do HealthCare Vouchers compare to other national reform proposals, such as Sen. Ron Wyden’s Healthy Americans Act, Better Health Care Together and the various presidential candidates’ proposals? Would the notion of a dedicated tax provide enough funding for the formation of his proposed National and Regional Health Boards, which would oversee the program? HealthCare Vouchers would retain the presence of insurance companies—how would government and corporate “cultures” mesh to provide Americans comparable benefits to those received by members of Congress today? You’ll have the opportunity to ask Dr. Emanuel about HealthCare Vouchers in person January 30, just five days before Super Tuesday. Sign up today! This special event is part of Oregon Health Forum’s ongoing efforts to provide Oregon’s business, health care and civic leaders information on national health care reform proposals.
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