DATE: 6:30-9:30 p.m. EST March 22, 2006. Live Webcast 7-9 p.m.

EVENT:” What is your health worth? A national conversation on health care.”

The University of Michigan will host a town hall meeting where the public can tell policymakers how to change today’s health care system to make it work for all Americans.

The forum is being held in conjunction with the national Citizens? Health Care Working Group, a 15-member federal commission formed by Congress for the express purpose of finding out what the public thinks about the accessibility, cost and quality of health care, and using that input to make policy recommendations to the federal government. For instance, health care costs in the U.S. were $1.7 trillion in 2003, and millions of Americans cannot afford the care they need.

In addition to the event in Ann Arbor, U-M will transmit the proceedings via satellite to simultaneous public meetings at all the Big 10 schools, plus to the campuses of 12 schools of public health around the country. Audiences at these town hall meetings will have the opportunity to share their input electronically with the panel in Ann Arbor.

The public can watch the proceedings via Web-streaming and offer comments and questions by e-mail. Visit: www.umich.edu/healthmeeting.

Questions not addressed during the meeting will be reviewed and answered online after the event. The event will begin with brief remarks from health care experts followed by an open forum.

Panelists include:

? Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan. Coleman co-chaired the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance, which issued recommendations in 2004 about how to extend coverage to more citizens.

? Pat Maryland, a member of the Working Group and president of St. Vincent Hospitals and Health Services Inc. in central Indiana. She previously held positions at Cleveland Clinic and Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.

? Catherine McLaughlin, professor of health management and policy at the U-M School of Public Health, and director of the U-M’s Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured. McLaughlin is a member of the Citizens? Health Care Working Group.

? Deborah Stehr, a member of the Working Group and a health care advocate who serves as full-time care-giver for her adult son, Jonathan, who has cerebral palsy. Iowa resident Stehr has served on the boards of the Iowa Citizen Action Network and USAction.

? Kenneth Warner, dean of the U-M School of Public Health. Warner has spent decades researching the effects of tobacco control policies. In his role as dean, he advocates disease prevention and health promotion through a robust public health system.

Live broadcast and Webcast are scheduled 7-9 p.m. EST.

PLACE: Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, on U-M’s North Campus. Events will occur simultaneously on Big 10 university campuses and at a dozen schools of public health. Check www.umich.edu/healthmeeting for a full list of participating locations.

REGISTER: Participants are asked to RSVP by calling or emailing Margie Gonzales: mcolby@umich.edu, (734) 763-5800. Pre-registration is not mandatory.

EVENT CONTACT: Margie Gonzales, mcolby@umich.edu, (734) 763-5800.

SPONSORS: University of Michigan, co-sponsored by the Association of Schools of Public Health and the Big Ten Conference.

Citizens? Health Care Working Group