University of Delaware: Debate — What causes rising health insurance premiums? Greedy corporations, or costly regulations?
November 9, 2015 @ 6:00 pm - 8:15 pm
Free
What causes rising health insurance premiums? Greedy Corporations? Costly Regulations? Both? Neither?
BRI Student Leaders, the debaters and moderator.Geoff Wilson
POST-EVENT SUMMARY: Fifty students, faculty and community participated in a debate focused on the cause of rising health insurance premiums. The goal was to explore whether costly regulations, or corporate greed cause health insurance premiums to rise. The debate was conducted with the Oxford debate format, and a pre- and post-vote was taken to determine which side won the debate. John Graham, citing costly regulations as the cause of rising healthcare premiums, won.
At the end, the audience asked questions of the debaters. Many in the audience said they really liked seeing the debate and learned a lot. It was very helpful in getting signups for a potential future BRI chapter at the University of Delaware.
John Graham
“I think the event would have benefitted from more disagreement, but it was very helpful in getting the audience to think about the issues of rising healthcare premiums.” ~Zach Howell, BRI student leader, University of Delaware
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NOTE: This event takes place in the Eastern time zone. Parking is the Trabant Parking Garage near the Trabant Student Center. Refreshments will be served; RSVPs are appreciated.
ALL are welcome to attend University of Delaware’s first debate of the academic year 2015-2016, jointly hosted by BRI and Young Americans for Liberty. We promise to have a lively debate over whether the cause of rising healthcare premiums can be attributed to corporate greed, or to costly government regulations.
Dr. Geoff Wilson of Physicians Organizing Committee will argue the case that rising health insurance premiums stem from greedy corporations. While obtaining his biochemistry degree at UC Davis, Mr. Wilson was awarded a Georg August University scholarship to study in Göttingen, Germany, where he worked at the Max Plank Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. While attending UCSF Medical School he became active in several organizing efforts to expand access to patient care and has since spent more than 30 years in direct advocacy on behalf of physicians and hospital medical staff fighting to reverse the encroachments of insurance companies, hospital corporations and government entities into matters of patient care. Dr. Wilson has pioneered the development of physicians organizing outside of the confines of the national labor laws, anti-trust laws and other restrictive legislation in order to bring physicians together to win victories on behalf of patient care.
John Graham, is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis. Formerly Vice President at the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), he previously directed health policy research at the Pacific Research Institute and the Fraser Institute. In prior positions he served as Assistant Vice President at Kidder, Peabody Securities Company; Associate at Goldman Sachs and Company; Political and Military Analyst for the United Nations Operation in Somalia; Development Consultant for Covenant House Vancouver; and Captain in the Canadian Army. He will represent for the side that Costly Regulations are to blame.
Moderator: Jonathan Kirch is the Government Relations Director of the American Heart Association for Delaware and the City of Philadelphia. A graduate of the leadership and public administration programs here at the University of Delaware, Mr. Kirch is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s public policy and advocacy initiatives. Mr. Kirch serves on the Governor’s Council for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and the Governor’s Pedestrian Council and is an expert in advocacy and lobbying in the public health community in Delaware. Jonathan successfully advocated for the strongest menu labeling law in the country in Philadelphia and participated in the negotiations on Capitol Hill on the federal menu labeling law. Jonathan served as the first Chair of the Leadership Council of the Delaware Healthy Eating and Active Living Coalition and remains on the coalition’s Leadership Council today.
Dr. Geoff Wilson of Physicians Organizing Committee will argue the case that rising health insurance premiums stem from greedy corporations. While obtaining his biochemistry degree at UC Davis, Mr. Wilson was awarded a Georg August University scholarship to study in Göttingen, Germany, where he worked at the Max Plank Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. While attending UCSF Medical School he became active in several organizing efforts to expand access to patient care and has since spent more than 30 years in direct advocacy on behalf of physicians and hospital medical staff fighting to reverse the encroachments of insurance companies, hospital corporations and government entities into matters of patient care. Dr. Wilson has pioneered the development of physicians organizing outside of the confines of the national labor laws, anti-trust laws and other restrictive legislation in order to bring physicians together to win victories on behalf of patient care.
Formerly Vice President at the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), he previously directed health policy research at the Pacific Research Institute and the Fraser Institute. In prior positions he served as Assistant Vice President at Kidder, Peabody Securities Company; Associate at Goldman Sachs and Company; Political and Military Analyst for the United Nations Operation in Somalia; Development Consultant for Covenant House Vancouver; and Captain in the Canadian Army. He will represent for the side that Costly Regulations are to blame.
Moderator: Jonathan Kirch is the Government Relations Director of the American Heart Association for Delaware and the City of Philadelphia. A graduate of the leadership and public administration programs here at the University of Delaware, Mr. Kirch is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s public policy and advocacy initiatives. Mr. Kirch serves on the Governor’s Council for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and the Governor’s Pedestrian Council and is an expert in advocacy and lobbying in the public health community in Delaware. Jonathan successfully advocated for the strongest menu labeling law in the country in Philadelphia and participated in the negotiations on Capitol Hill on the federal menu labeling law. Jonathan served as the first Chair of the Leadership Council of the Delaware Healthy Eating and Active Living Coalition and remains on the coalition’s Leadership Council today.