Health Care System Overview

Facilitator: John M. Schwarz
Email: civicedmsp@gmail.com Phone: 651 442-8899
DATES: June 18th--July 16. Thursdays for 5 Weeks.
CLASS TIME: 6:30—8:30 pm, Thursdays.
LOCATION 155 Ford Hall. U of M--East Bank campus
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CHANGE IN CLASS STRUCURE CHANGE IN CLASS STRUCURE NOW WEEKS 2 & 3 COMBINED

A seminar that serves as an introduction to the current US health system, basic health economic theory, European systems, and reform proposals. Special emphasis on public systems—single-payer and its variations. A look at single-payer movement’s strategies and suggested reforms. This course doesn't address medical issues. No special prior knowledge required. The material will be detailed enough to serve those wanting an advanced overview, but general enough to be a good basic introduction. The emphasis will be on lecture and discussion. There will be some suggested readings, none required. No assignments, but instructor willing to evaluate written work students want to submit.
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• Week 1. Overview of scope of health systems and reforms in particular. Introduction to US system: Public programs, employers, individuals. Federal regulations. State regulation. Beginner introduction to US reform proposals: Consumer-Driven, Mandate, Public Pools, Single-payer.
• Week 2. Health economics. An analysis of health care/insurance as different from typical goods and services. Focus on health systems in Western nations. In-depth look at Single-Payer. European success vs. failure in the US.
• Week 4. Main Reform issues. Universal care: The limits of many universal care proposals—they lack an economic model. Current proposals such as public purchasing and coverage pools, e.g. Barack Obama, Becky Lourey’s (DFL) 2006 Gubernatorial campaign platform’s public pool proposal. -- Flawed strategies by the US single-payer movement. Building a single-payer movement version 2.0
• Week 5. Follow-up, catch-up, errata, review. A final session devoted to dealing with additional student questions, follow-up and follow-on, clarifying topic- related issues.

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John Schwarz is a longtime Minnesota progressive health reform activist. He created a non-profit health policy think-tank to channel his work through in 2006 called United Health System (www.unitedhealthsystem.org), a single-payer advocacy organization not associated with the United HealthGroup HMO. He has a Master’s in Government from Cornell University and his research focus was health systems. He has been a member of the Universal Health Care Action Network—Minnesota since 2004, is a former (2004-5) Steering Committee member of the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition, has worked with the DFL-Progressive Caucus on progressive health reform. He has testified at the legislature about health system issues 14 times in the past several years, and was an appointed member of the Legislature's 2007 Single Payer Working Group, for which he was lead author of its final report. He regularly speaks to groups about health system issues, and taught a version of this course in 2006.