Health Care Reform: To Regulate or to Innovate?

Simon Ramo Lecturer James Greenwood Analyzes the Presidential Candidates

Health care continues to be the top domestic issue on voters' minds, according to recent polls. With rising concerns over access to health insurance and affordability of medical care, KGI has decided to devote its 7th Annual Simon Ramo Distinguished Lecture Series to this pressing national topic.

On March 26 James Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), will give an hour-long lecture on: "The American Health Care System and the Presidential Race: Who Will Regulate, Who Will Innovate?"

The event is free and open to the public.

Greenwood is among the leading authorities on health care in Washington, D.C. As the head of BIO, Greenwood oversees an organization of more than 1,150 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations involved in the issue of innovative healthcare, among other topics.

That's why Sheldon Schuster, KGI's president, invited Greenwood to KGI during this pivotal year of a presidential election.

"Jim's leadership at BIO and his experience with health care legislation on Capitol Hill give him a unique view of the reform process and the platforms of each candidate," said Schuster.

Before taking over the leadership of BIO, Greenwood served 12 years in Congress from Pennsylvania. A senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he was widely viewed as a leading voice on health care.

"Because KGI combines science and business to educate tomorrow's leaders in the life sciences, it is critical that we understand how federal policy may affect both, not to mention the direction that health care will go under a new presidency," Schuster said.

Voters too want to know what the next president will do to address medical concerns. A recent tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that for Republicans, Democrats and independents, health care is the No. 2 issue, behind only the Iraq war.

The survey showed 44% of voters list Iraq as the most important problem that government must address, followed by health care at 29% and the economy 13%. According to the foundation, previous Kaiser polls have shown the economy and health care tied, or the economy ahead of health care, indicating that with this latest poll, health care may be on the rise as a national campaign issue.

Showcasing achievements in the life sciences by some of the world's top scientists and business leaders, the Simon Ramo lecture has featured J. Craig Venter, Donald Kennedy, Leroy Hood, Maxine Singer, Dr. Bruce Alberts and P. Roy Vagelos as past speakers. The event is made possible by generous endowment gifts from Simon and Virginia Ramo and the W.M. Keck Foundation.

Simon Ramo Lecture details:

Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Time: 4 pm - 5pm
Location: Keck Graduate Institute, 517 Building Lecture Hall

To attend the event, call 909/607-7892 or email events@kgi.edu by March 17.

—Noel Brinkerhoff