Center for Studying Health System Change

he seventh annual "Wall Street Comes to Washington" roundtable, hosted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), promises a stimulating discussion of today's health care issues by leading financial market analysts and health policy experts. Once again, the roundtable will bring together leading bond and equity analysts well versed in the market conditions shaping the behavior of managed care plans, hospitals, pharmaceutical and other health care companies, with health policy experts to explore the latest market trends and their relevance to health policy.

Panelists will discuss the impact of broad trends shaping the health care system, including rising costs for employers and consumers, managed care's ability to control costs, hospital and physician capacity constraints and the role of pharmaceuticals in health care. In addition, they will address the implications of current legislative and regulatory proposals for the health care system.

By bridging the worlds of Wall Street and Washington, HSC seeks to enhance understanding of how health care markets and public policies affect one another. HSC President Paul B. Ginsburg and Associate Director Joy Grossman will draw on the findings of recent HSC analyses from its nationally representative Community Tracking Study to stir debate on Wall Street analysts' views of market trends. The roundtable will allow ample time for audience questions and answers.

Topics to be covered include:

Health care costs: How will employers control rising costs? Will more companies shift costs to employees or stop offering coverage altogether? What types of cost sharing will they incorporate? What is the outlook for drug spending? Will states and other large purchasers seek to impose additional restrictions to limit drug spending? How will managed care plans respond to Medicare's reduction in physician payment rates? When will the health insurance underwriting cycle return to premium increases that are lower than expected cost trends? To what extent does easing managed care restrictions drive health care cost trends? Will cost trends peak once this transition is complete?

Pharmaceutical trends: What would the impact be of pending legislation to ease the entry of generics into the market? How will the pharmaceutical industry respond to the growing backlash against rising prescription costs? Have recent tiered copayment programs helped to contain costs by changing prescribing habits or merely shifted costs to consumers? Will direct-to-consumer advertising be curtailed? What is the potential for shifting certain medications to over-the-counter status?

Managed care: Will managed care continue to loosen restrictions on patients and providers? What are the implications of various Blues plans' mergers and conversions? Will information technology developments help to control costs, improve care and satisfy the growing consumer demand for more treatment/outcomes information?

Market changes: Are boutique physician practices likely to become important enough to make a difference? How will managed care plans respond to such developments? Will consumer-driven health plans succeed in enrolling a substantial number of people? Will they upset the balance of shared-risk pools in employment-based coverage? Will increased construction of facilities for specialty services in cardiology, oncology and orthopedics lead to overcapacity and higher health care costs? Will hospitals be equipped to handle capacity constraints and raise capital to expand and compete?

Space limitations: Space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served bases. Please be sure to register online or be fax by Thursday, June 6, 2002 (a print version of the registration form can be found on the PDF version of this brochure).

Address of and Directions to the Hotel: Grand Hyatt, 1000 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001. Tel: (202) 582-1234. Located at 10th and H Streets, near Metro Center station and accessible from Red, Orange and Blue line trains.

Note: HSC conferences are free. For additional information about the conference, please call Roland Edwards at 202-484-4514 or e-mail at redwards@hschange.org.


	Wall Street Comes to Washington Market Watchers and Policy Analysts Evaluate the Health Care Market Issue Brief No. 54
	Seventh Annual Wall Street Comes to Washington Conference Transcript

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The Center for Studying Health System Change Ceased operation on Dec. 31, 2013.