ANN ARBOR—With health policy issues playing a major part in this year’s race for the White House, the plans and reforms proposed by all four major party candidates are giving the American public a wide range of possibilities to choose.

Should the free market prevail, or should we aim for universal coverage through government action? What funding levels and coverage packages are appropriate for Medicare and Medicaid? Are large employers heading away from picking health plans for their employees?

These issues and more will be raised on April 7 at the University of Michigan, when the senior health advisers to the Gore, Bush, Bradley and McCain campaigns will face questions from a panel of U-M and industry experts, and the general public.

Sponsored by the FORUM on Health Policy, part of the Program in Society and Medicine at the U-M Health System, the discussion will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the School of Public Health II building on the U-M campus. It is free and open to the public.

Map of Central Campus—School of Public Health Building II (Public Health II) right center.

Even though Sen. John McCain and former Sen. Bill Bradley are no longer in the race, the U-M is welcoming their campaign health policy advisers—and their health care reform ideas—as much as those of Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George Bush.

“All of these approaches represent constituencies in national and regional government for ideas on how to reform our nation’s health care system,” says Marilynn Rosenthal, Ph.D., head of the FORUM on Health Policy. “We look forward to examining what each brings to the table.”

The discussion will be moderated by Gilbert Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of the U-M Health System, and by Eugene Feingold, Ph.D., a professor emeritus from the U-M School of Public Health. Panelists will include: a representative of a large industry; Zelda Geyer-Sylvia, M.P.H., executive director of the UMHS health maintenance organization, M-CARE; Keith Crocker, Ph.D., a professor of risk management and economics in the U-M Business School; Max Heirich, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of sociology; Richard Lichtenstein, M.P.H., Ph.D., an associate professor of health management and policy in U-M School of Public Health; and Howard Weinblatt, M.D., medical director of Integrated Health Associates, a Michigan physician organization.

FORUM on Health PolicyCentral CampusGilbert Omenn