AMAC Health Care Symposium attracts high-caliber speakers
Planning for the June 9-10 AMAC Foundation Health Care Symposium in Washington has taken a major leap forward with the enlisting of support from some of the most prominent voices in the national health care debate. Representatives of leading advocacy organizations have joined forces with the Foundation to participate in what promises to be a thorough examination of issues facing health care in America, as well as a forum for the development of actionable solutions to many of today’s problems.
Symposium organizers expressed extreme pleasure at being able to present speakers like Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin (left), distinguished 
academic, policy advisor, and strategist and President of the America Action Forum as a keynote speaker, along with Dr. John C. Goodman (right), president and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis. Dr. Goodman, recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of four people who have most influenced the modern health care system, is also frequently referred to as the “Father of Health Savings Accounts” for his work in developing this popular concept.
In addition to remarks from Dr. Holtz-Eakin and Dr. Goodman, this multi-faceted conference will capture the insights of some of the major players in America’s health care debate, including:
- Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., a Regan Administration appointee in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Dr. Moffit’s extensive history as senior member of Heritage’s pace-setting health care team and director of Heritage’s Center for Health Policy Studies will add considerable depth to the discussion on today’s and tomorrow’s health care issues.
- Scott Gottlieb, M.D. a practicing physician and a Resident Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. He has has served in various capacities at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including senior adviser for medical technology, director of medical policy development, and most recently, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. Dr. Gottlieb has also served as a senior policy adviser at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
- Grace-Marie Turner, Founder and President of the Galen Institute, a public policy research organization dedicated to promoting an informed debate over free-market ideas for health reform. Ms. Turner’s experience as a member of the National Advisory Council of Healthcare Research and Quality and the Medicaid Commission, along with her role as founder and facilitator of the Health Policy Consensus Group, will add substantially to the Symposium’s depth.
- Lt. Gen Jack Klimp, USMC (Ret.), President of the National Association for Uniformed Services. With a distinguished U.S. Marine Corps career, including tours in Vietnam, Korea, and Desert Storm, Jack Klimp built a solid career in industry as CEO of AHRI, Inc. and, before that, senior VP of Phoenix House, overseeing more than 40 drug rehabilitation programs in the New York area. In 2009, he assumed leadership of Second Genesis, a substance abuse recovery program.
- Dr. Beth Haynes, Senior Health Policy Analyst and Executive Board Member for Docs4PatientCare and Executive Board Member of the Dr. Joseph Warren Institute. Dr. Haynes is also founder and president of the Black Ribbon Project, a movement addressing the shortcomings of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and has served as National Co-Chair of Doc Squads, a project to recruit and train doctors to lead the public health care debate.
- Arizona State Senator Kelli Ward, also a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, a former private family medical practitioner, and a current contracted physician in the Emergency Departments in both Lake Havasu City and Kingman, Arizona. In her elected capacity, she serves as Vice Chair of Arizona’s Health and Human Services Committee along with her duties on the Education and Appropriations Committees. She also served Arizona as an appointee to their Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants.
- Dr. James E. Smith, Director of the Center for Industrial Research Applications (CIRA) at West Virginia University. Dr. Smith has taught at the University since 1976. Prior to joining WVU, he was a Research Engineer for the Department Of Energy (DOE), where he was the principal and/or co-principal investigator for various projects funded by federal agencies (TACOM, DOD, HEW, DOT, US Navy, DARPA, and DOE), international corporations, and numerous US corporations. Dr. Smith has been involved in transferring technology from academia into the commercial sector.
- Ratanjit Sondhe, founder and CEO of www.DiscoverHelp.com, as well as an acclaimed author, writer, and columnist. He has addressed a variety of international conferences and other forums as a keynote speaker on stress management, ethics, and applied spirituality. Sondhe is also a radio and television host and founder and chair of the Business Association of Sikh Enterprises. He is a board member of the American Red Cross and Project Love and serves as chairman of the board of the Guru Nanak Foundation.
The June 9-10 Symposium will feature keynote addresses and plenary session addresses, along with a working-committee track comprised of eight separate breakout discussions. The breakouts will tackle topics like Medicaid and the under insured; controlling prescription drug, Medicare, and malpractice insurance costs; preventive care, wellness, and alternative treatment approaches; streamlining regulations for hospitals and care providers; and preserving the family doctor environment.
As explained by Foundation President Dan Weber, “These working committees will roll up their sleeves and deliberate on ways to achieve improvement in the near-term, rather than allowing the existing problems to continue to hinder our health care system’s effectiveness. They’ll begin with problems identified and observations compiled through a series of pre-Symposium teleconferences, and they’ll hit the ground running to turn this information into clear, workable solutions to some of the most daunting problems plaguing the system today.”
The Symposium’s closing session will feature delivery of these results to a distinguished panel of health care professionals for assessment and open discussion. As a result of this approach, the Foundation intends to be in position to carry the recommendations forward to the parties most capable of actually putting them into action.
To sign up for the Symposium, simply access the Symposium’s website (www.AMACHealthCareSymposium.com) and click on the “Register Today” tab. Health care practitioners can select a breakout panel to join, while anyone can register to attend the event by selecting the “Enroll in 2014 Symposium” option from the menu. For questions about the Symposium, contact the Foundation at 1-888-262-2006 or send an email to info@amachealthcaresymposium.com.