Impact
I have had the privilege for the past four years of serving on the board of APEE – The Association of Private Enterprise Education – devoted to fostering free-market principles and ideas. Hundreds of bright young people – students and young professors – attend the conferences every year along with many others of us who are more seasoned in the battles for liberty. Health policy colleagues from think tanks and academia joined me at this year’s conference in Maui for my sessions on entitlement spending and market-based solutions. I am inspired and have hope for the future when I see this wonderful APEE community in action.
And back on the mainland, the battles over ObamaCare continue. Galen Visiting Scholar Chris Jacobs produced two new papers for us to educate the debate over “21st century options for the states” in expanding access to health insurance.
Please read on for more highlights of our April activities.
Grace-Marie
Publications
Forbes published Grace-Marie’s column, “A Temporary Insurance Program Foretells Exploding Obamacare Costs.”
We had three commentaries published by National Review Online:
- “Florida Speaker offers positive alternative to Medicaid expansion”
- “On PCIP, A misfire from the circular firing squad”
- “W’s Legacy,” a commentary timed for the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas
We published and distributed two papers with visiting scholar Chris Jacobs:
The Galen Institute submitted comments on the HHS proposed ruleregarding mandatory coverage of contraception services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, produced in conjunction with Galen trustee John Hoff.
We published 5 posts to the Galen blog:
- “Budget summary — Obama’s “One Percent” solution ”
- “Florida Speaker offers positive alternative to Medicaid expansion”
- “A misfire from the circular firing squad”
- “Would congress have the nerve to exempt itself from ObamaCare?”
- “Colluding capitalism under ObamaCare”
Galen in the News
The Galen Institute was in high demand in April, with interviews about delaying the health insurance exchanges, rising health insurance costs, Navigators, the medical device tax, and other health reform-related issues. We spoke on several regional and nationally syndicated radio programs, including Richmond’s Morning News, The Drew Mariani Show, The Small Business Advocate, Radio America, and Butler on Business.
Grace-Marie Turner also appeared on TV’s Fox Business: the Willis Report about a pending Senate bill to regulate compounding manufacturers, and on The Kudlow Report, CNBC, about small businesses’ challenges in dealing with ObamaCare.
Speeches and Sessions
Grace-Marie spoke with a variety of organizations in April:
- University of St. Thomas MBA Health Care DC Seminar: “The Conservative Alternative to Obamacare”
- Commonwealth Republican Women’s Club: “Update on Obamacare”
- State Health Secretaries: “Medicaid Expansion and the States’ alternative options”
- At the APEE conference in Maui, she chaired a session on “How to Keep Health Entitlement Spending from Crushing Our Future Prosperity” and “Getting Health Reform Right with New Incentives for Providers and Patients,” featuring Consensus Group colleagues.
Meetings and Events
We participated in meetings of the Repeal Coalition and a number of other policy meetings on Capitol Hill.
Grace-Marie was invited to attend the Annual PhRMA conference in San Diego, where she had the opportunity to meet with industry leaders and representatives of other foundations, medical associations, and patient advocacy groups.
Grace-Marie attended the annual board meeting of APEE (the Association of Private Enterprise Education) in Maui.
She also attended a dinner and reception honoring retiring Heritage Foundation president Ed Feulner at the Library of Congress.
Our April Health Policy Series featured James C. Capretta, Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Joseph R. Antos, Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy, American Enterprise Institute, who talked with Capitol Hill staffers about “Budget Insights: Is entitlement reform now possible?”
Galen organized a briefing on bio similars for Consensus Group members and separate meeting cohosted with the Heritage Foundation on market-based health reform policies.
We facilitated our monthly State Leaders call, jointly hosted by Galen Institute, the Institute for Policy Innovation, and the State Policy Network, on “Defunding ObamaCare, what can and cannot be done,” featuring Emily Murry, health policy advisor in the Office of the Majority Whip.
We also participated in numerous meetings with health industry executives and policy experts to discuss new initiatives for market-based health reform.