October 6, 2006

    October 6, 2006 ~ A one-day seminar ~ Select sessions of this event are available via video web cast.

    Hosted by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) in
    collaboration with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

    National Center for Primary Care ~ Morehouse School of Medicine ~ Auditorium
    720 Westview Drive, SW ~ Atlanta, Georgia 30310

    This one-day free seminar for national, state, and local policymakers, health policy leaders, researchers, professors, students, journalists and others with an interest in health policy and aging will feature the latest information on the Medicare Part D drug benefit and the latest findings from a NASI study panel on how Medicare can further reduce ethnic and racial health disparities.

    8:30am Registration and Continental Breakfast

    9:00am Welcome
    CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO VIEW A WEB CAST OF THIS SESSION.
    Rose Crum-Johnson,
     former CMS Regional Administrator, Atlanta, and Seminar Chair
    William Alexander, MD, Special Assistant to the President, Health Affairs, Morehouse School of Medicine
    Pamela J. Larson, Executive Vice President, NASI

    9:15am Medicare Part D and the Georgia Experience
    CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE AND FAST FORWARD TWENTY (20) MINUTES TO VIEW THE WEB CAST AND POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS FROM THIS SESSION.

    An update on Medicare Part D implementation, to help people understand the largest benefit expansion in the program’s 40 years.

    Moderator: Bob Rosenblatt, Journalist and Senior Fellow, NASI
    Buddy Harden, former Executive Vice President, Georgia Pharmacy Association
    Jennie Deese, Director, Georgia Cares Program
    Roger Perez, Regional Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Atlanta

    11:00am Q&A

    11:45am Luncheon Buffet

    1:00pm NASI’s Report on “Sharpening Medicare’s Tools for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities¨
    CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO VIEW A WEBCAST AND THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS FROM THIS SESSION.

    Moderator: Rose Crum-Johnson, former CMS Regional Administrator, Atlanta, Study Panel member, and Seminar Chair
    Presenter: Bruce C. Vladeck, Study Panel Chair and Interim President of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
    Albert W. Morris, Jr., MD, President, National Medical Association
    Flavia Mercado, MD, Director of Multicultural Affairs at Grady Health System, and Board Member of the National Hispanic Medical Association
    Barry M. Straube, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Director, Office of Clinical Standards and Quality, CMS Headquarters, Baltimore

    2:15pm Q&A

    2:45pm Closing Remarks:
    What Do these Findings Mean for the Most Vulnerable?

    CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE AND FAST FORWARD 119 MINUTES TO VIEW THE WEB CAST AND POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS FROM THIS SESSION.
    Wilhelmina Leigh
    , Senior Research Associate, Joint Center for Political and Economics Studies

    The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization made up of the nation’s leading experts on social insurance and located in Washington DC. Its mission is to promote understanding and informed policymaking on social insurance and related programs through research, public education, training, and the open exchange of ideas. In an era of partisan politics, NASI is known for its ability to encourage experts with differing philosophies to seek common ground in pursuit of improved and innovative public policies. NASI has a proven track record in convening policy research conferences and seminars. NASI’s conferences have a reputation for engaging experts and presenting information that is accessible, informative, and useful to policymakers, journalists, and other stakeholders.

    The Joint Center Health Policy Institute (HPI)’s mission is to ignite a “Fair Health” movement that gives people of color the inalienable right to equal opportunity for healthy lives. The Joint Center has long recognized the need to examine civil rights from a variety of perspectives. Just as it acknowledged the importance of economics as an important aspect of equal opportunity by adding “Economic¨ to its name in 1990, it is recognizing good health through the work of the Health Policy Institute. By framing our mission in terms of a “Fair Health” movement, we acknowledge the legacy of activism and coalition that underpin racial, political and economic progress. We also shift our focus to the desired outcome and implied strategy. The Joint Center Health Policy Institute’s research, publications, activities and projects are designed to accelerate our progress beyond listing and analyzing the litany of health disparities, toward collective strategies that produce real change.