NEWPORT, R.I. – While there are no more seats available, the public is invited to join Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and dozens of the state’s leading health care experts in a Twitter discussion on health care reform and how it affects Rhode Islanders.
Salve Regina’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, which on April 30 is hosting a half-day conference on the topic, encourages the public to tweet their questions or concerns about health care by using #pellcenter on Twitter. Tweeting may commence immediately.
“A core part of the Pell Center mission is to engage with the public on the issues that are important to them,” said Dr. James Ludes, Pell Center executive director, who plans to implement selections from the #pellcenter feed into the conference discussion. “Using Twitter allows us to expand the conversation, giving people beyond the Pell Center and Newport the opportunity to weigh-in on this important debate.”
Monday’s conference, “Health Care Reform and Rhode Island: The Law, the Politics and the Implementation,” is being held as the U.S. Supreme Court stands poised to rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and as the race for president builds to its crescendo in November.
Sen. Whitehouse, a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee who has made lowering costs and increasing the quality of care a priority issue, will present the keynote remarks.
“The Pell Center is delighted to host this conference on health care reform and its implementation in Rhode Island,” said Ludes. “We see in this event as an opportunity for elected officials, corporate executives, policy analysts and the public to come together for informed discussion about the most powerful public issue in the public debate since President Obama was elected.”
The conference runs Monday, April 30 from 1-4:30 p.m. No more seats are available to the public but the media is encouraged to attend. The Pell Center is located in the Young Building, at the corner of Bellevue and Ruggles Avenues in Newport.
Following is the agenda and key participants:
12:30 p.m. – Registration
1 p.m. – Panel I: The Policy and Politics of Healthcare Reform
What are the key features of the Affordable Care Act? What are they intended to do? How were they developed? How did policy and politics come together in the crafting of the legislation? What are the key political and policy issues today? What is the Supreme Court considering? How will it affect the debate moving forward?
Participants:
Jordanna Davis, Senior Associate, Sachs Consulting.
Darrell West, Vice President and Director, Governance Studies, Brookings.
Linda Katz, Co-Founder and Policy Director, The Economic Progress Institute.
2:15 p.m. – Panel II: Healthcare Reform Implementation in Rhode Island
While the national political debate simmers, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act continues. How has the law already affected the State of Rhode Island and the people who live here? What are consumers likely to see affect them in the coming months and years? How will the citizens of the state be affected by major changes from Washington?
Participants:
Jane Hayward, President, RI Community Health Center Association.
Christopher Koller, Health Insurance Commissioner, Office of Health Insurance Commissioner, State of Rhode Island.
Peter Andruszkiewicz, President, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
Dennis Keefe, President & Chief Executive Officer at Care New England.
Elizabeth Roberts, Lt. Governor of Rhode Island.
3:30 p.m. – Keynote Address: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse