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Health Care University
Five Cato Institute luncheon seminars on the Hill

December 10-14, 2007 *
12:00 noon (Lunch included)




Monday, December 10

John Stossel Video: Whose Body Is It Anyway? Sick in America

With comments by Michael D. Tanner, Director, Health and Welfare Studies, and Michael F. Cannon, Director, Health Policy Studies, co-authors of Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It

Rayburn B-338

A showing of the video of John Stossel's investigation of health care issues, an ABC News 20/20 special, will be followed by Q&A with Michael Tanner, Director of Health and Welfare Studies, Cato Institute, and Michael F. Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

Tuesday, December 11

The Basic Economics of Health Care and Insurance Markets

With comments by Peter Van Doren, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute, and editor of the quarterly journal Regulation

Rayburn B-340

Public debate about health care is often ill-informed about what health insurance markets can and cannot do and what effects health care expenditures actually have on morbidity and mortality. This session will explain basic facts and concepts essential to understanding insurance and health care markets as well as the political struggles that accompany them

Wednesday, December 12

Health Care: What Government Can and Cannot Fix

With comments by Arnold Kling, Cato Institute adjunct scholar and author of Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care

Rayburn B-338

Our health care system has many flaws. There are issues with access, quality, and cost. This session will take a pragmatic approach to health care reform, looking at what sorts of government policies tend to work, what sorts of policies tend to fail, and what sorts of policies tend to backfire and make things worse.

Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3)

Thursday, December 13

Bad Ideas for Health Care Reform

Featuring Michael D. Tanner, Director, Health and Welfare Studies and co-author of Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It

Rayburn B-338

How should the problems facing the U.S. health care system be addressed? Many proposed solutions are worse than the disease. This session will examine the shortcomings in single-payer systems, employer and individual mandates, and managed-competition plans, including Massachusetts-style "connectors."

Download a Podcast of the Event (MP3)

Friday, December 14

How to Reduce Government's Role in Health Care

Featuring Michael F. Cannon, Director, Health Policy Studies, and co-author of Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It

Rayburn B-338

Many reforms that claim to free health care markets would actually increase government's power. This session will discuss reforms that would actually reduce government's role in health care — and improve consumer options — and contrast them with reforms that fall short of that target.


Cato Institute luncheon seminars on the Hill are free of charge. Registration for each seminar closes 24 hours in advance. Please arrive early. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. News media inquiries only (no registrations), please call (202) 789-5200.

Registration for this event is closed.