Health care reform group established

Group members Members of the medical center health care review group are: John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D. dean of the College of Medicine; Bob Bartee, vice chancellor of external affairs Bob Bell, vice president for business and community development, UNeMed Gerald Moore, M.D., professor of rheumatology, and senior associate dean for academic affairs James Gigantelli, M.D., professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, assistant dean of government relations John Benson, M.D., professor of internal medicine Keith Mueller, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Public Health and health policy expert Michael Sitorius, M.D., chairman of the Department of Family Medicine Robert Wigton, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education Thomas Tape, M.D., section chief, Department of Internal Medicine Mark Bowen, director of government relations Cory Shaw, CEO, UNMC Physicians Bill Dinsmoor, chief financial officer at The Nebraska Medical Center; and Harris Frankel, M.D., a private practice neurologist.

The debate about health care reform is heating up as President Obama and Congress tackle the issues and draft plans. The president has called on Congress to have a bill ready by August.

Experts say change is necessary and will have a vast impact.

UNMC, UNMC Physicians and The Nebraska Medical Center have formed a health care review group to study the issues that will affect the medical center and its employees. The group includes 14 people from the medical center as well as several members of the local business community.

The group can be an objective resource for elected officials, business and community entities in Nebraska in communicating the potential impact of health care reform proposals, said Bob Bartee, vice chancellor of external affairs at UNMC.

The group is preparing a series of white papers about key areas in health care reform, Bartee said.

“Everyone has an interest in what happens and we are taking a comprehensive look at various issues in health care reform,” Bartee said. “We’re watching all the issues and will do our best to interpret their impact on people and try to answer the questions that people will be asking.”

Some of the issues of health care reform include:

• How to pay for a public plan;
  
• Access to health care for the current 47 million uninsured;
  
• Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement;
  
• Graduate medical education pay for residents; and
  
• Quality and safety issues.

An employee forum is being planned for those who wanting to learn more about health care reform and how it may affect them. A conference aimed at various stakeholders and policy makers is also being planned. More details will appear in UNMC Today as they become available.