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AARP’s Brickfield Conference Center
601 E Street, NW
Washington, DC
DISTRICTOFCOLUMBIA

The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) and the American Society on Aging (ASA) are collaborating to co-sponsor an event honoring the 50th anniversary of Medicare. Join us (and bring along a colleague or two) at this special afternoon event, featuring authors contributing to ASA’s Summer 2015 landmark issue of Generations journal, “Medicare at 50 Years,” guest-edited by Tricia Neuman,  a senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation and director of the Foundation’s Program on Medicare Policy and its Project on Medicare’s Future, and John Rother, president/CEO, National Coalition on Health Care. (The issue will be available in June 2015;  www.asaging.org/generations-journal-american-society-aging.)

When: April 23, 2015, 2pm to 5pm

Where: AARP’s Brickfield Conference Center, 601 E Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

What: The 50th anniversary of Medicare is an opportunity to celebrate the critical role this program has played in efficiently and effectively providing health and long-term care for millions of Americans: It is the bedrock of retirement security for older Americans, and its guarantee of coverage allows families and employers to devote resources to other personal and commercial priorities.

Medicare’s 50th anniversary is also an opportunity to look ahead at the challenges facing the program, which includes a growing disconnect between the policy discussions in Washington, D.C., and the current beneficiary (and future) experience—ever increasing out-of-pocket costs and a benefit package that sometimes fails to support current (and future) beneficiaries’ medical and social needs.

How can Medicare evolve for the better over the next 50 years? Such evolution would benefit older Americans, and perhaps to an even greater extent, today’s younger Americans just entering the workforce, as innovations in Medicare often lead the way to changes in private-sector health insurance.

Join experts from a range of leading Medicare policy organizations for a fresh look at the importance of the program. Speakers will take stock of challenges facing Medicare and discuss solutions that make sense from the perspective of beneficiaries. Additionally, experts of public opinion will discuss current data on Americans’ views of Medicare, how policy makers might learn more about current and future beneficiaries’ priorities, and how gathering new information might drive important improvements in the program.

Who’s invited? Health and retirement security policymakers, researchers, advocates, journalists, consumers, grant-makers, healthcare delivery workers, insurers, and other industry stakeholders. To register for this free event:  http://bit.ly/beneficiary_event

PROGRAM

2:00-2:15 PM: Welcome

  • Lee Goldberg, Vice President for Health Policy, National Academy of Social Insurance
  • Lynn Friss Feinberg, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Aging

2:15-3:25 PM: Setting a Beneficiary-Oriented Agenda for Medicare: Issues, Opportunities, and Challenges

  • Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director, Justice in Aging
  • Joe Baker, President, Medicare Rights Center
  • Judith Stein, Executive Director, Center for Medicare Advocacy
  • Tricia Neuman, Senior Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation (moderator)

3:25 – 3:35 PM: Break

3:35 – 4:45 PM: What Beneficiaries Want for Medicare: Hearing From the Field

  • Elizabeth Hamel, Director, Public Opinion and Survey Research at Kaiser Family Foundation
  • Mathew Greenwald, President and CEO, Greenwald & Associates
  • Andrew Scholnick, Senior Legislative Representative, AARP
  • Murray Ross, Vice President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Director, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy (moderator)

4:45- 5:00 PM: Closing

  • Murray Ross, Vice President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Director, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy

This symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society on Aging

Founded in 1954 as the Western Gerontological Society, the American Society on Aging is an association of diverse individuals bound by a common goal: to support the commitment and enhance the knowledge and skills of those who seek to improve the quality of life of older adults and their families. The membership of ASA is multidisciplinary and inclusive of professionals who are concerned with the physical, emotional, social, economic and spiritual aspects of aging. 

 

Throughout 2015, the National Academy of Social Insurance (www.nasi.org) is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid with a series of special activities, including this symposium.. Working with a variety of partners, the Academy is committed to providing the public and the policy community with a platform for educational dialogue around the history and future of these two vital programs. Learn more about the Academy’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, and stay tuned for additional events.

The Academy’s Medicare and Medicaid at 50 and Beyond Celebration Program is made possible thanks to support from Anthem, Inc. and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President’s Grant Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.