Dear Colleagues:

On October 1 health insurance “exchanges” will open for business across the country, making new insurance choices – and, more important, large subsidies – available to millions of Americans. About half of states are moving forward with plans to expand Medicaid; Ohio is still deciding what to do.

While the fight over whether to implement the law or parts of it continues in Washington and state capitals, HHS and state administrators have faced hundreds of choices about exactly how it will work. The Obama administration has weakened or postponed some important sections as it turned law into regulations. Meanwhile nobody knows what will actually happen: How high will the premiums be? How many people will enroll?

So we’re very glad to welcome one of the nation’s leading experts on health care finance and the insurance industry, J.B. Silvers, to review choices, issues, and prospects for what is supposed to be the most significant new government program in almost fifty years.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

J.B. Silvers is the John R. Mannix Medical Mutual of Ohio Professor of Healthcare Finance at the Case Weatherhead School of Management and the School of Medicine. He sits on many boards including The Joint Commission, SummaCare, MetroHealth and others. He has published in the Journal of Finance, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Medical Care, Pediatrics, Health Services Research and others. From 1997 to 2000, while on leave, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of QualChoice – a health plan and insurance company in Cleveland, Ohio. During his time there, enrollment grew 30%, profitability improved substantially and the HMO received a J.D. Powers Award as the best in the area. After earlier degrees in engineering and industrial management from Purdue, Professor Silvers received a PhD in Finance from Stanford University and served on the management faculties of Stanford, Harvard and Indiana University, and Case Western Reserve University. Silvers currently serves on the board of Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and their finance and audit committee, Nursing Advisory Council and Work Group on Quality and Payment Alignment (Vice Chair). Formerly he served as a Commissioner on the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPAC, the predecessor of MedPAC), as well as other state and federal commissions. He has also served as Senior Associate Dean of the Weatherhead School of Management for several years.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

September 13: Will the Working Class Ever Recover? The Great Recession and Beyond. With Tim Black, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Joe White, Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy.

September 20: Germany’s Election on Sunday. With Mark Cassell, Professor of Political Science, Kent State University. ***Alternate Location: Spartan Room, 3rd Floor of Thwing Center***

September 27: “Congressional Republican Leadership.” With Justin Buchler, Associate Professor of Political Science. ***Alternate Location: Mather House Room 100***

October 4: China’s New Leadership After a Year. With Paul Schroeder, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science. ***Alternate Location: Mather House Room 100***

October 11: “3D Printing” or Additive Manufacturing: What Is It, and What Could It Do? With Malcolm Cooke, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Executive Director of think(box). ***Alternate Location: Spartan Room, 3rd Floor of Thwing Center***

October 18: Patenting Genes. With Craig Nard, Tom J. E. and Bette Lou Walker Professor of Law, and Director, Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts.

October 25: Why Performance Enhancing Drugs Should be Legal in Sports. With Max Mehlman, Arthur E. Petersilge Professor of Law and Director of the Law-Medicine Center.

November 1: Press Freedom and the Edward Snowden Affair. With Jim Sheeler, Shirley Wormser Professor of Journalism and Media Writing.

November 8: Is It or Is It Not Cancer? Is That the Question? With Nathan A. Berger, Distinguished University Professor and Director, Center for Science, Health and Society.

November 15: The Opportunity Corridor and Beyond: Transportation Issues in University Circle. With Debbie Berry, Vice President of Development, University Circle Inc.

November 22: Economic Effects of Health Care Reform: The Massachusetts Experience. With Mark Votruba, Associate Professor of Economics.

November 29 : No Session – Thanksgiving Break

December 6: TBA