Keynote Speaker Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute, returns for his 14th year in a row to give us his inside-the-beltway insights on the outlook for health care reform now that the House of Representatives has a Republican majority.

"Health Politics of Health Care Reform Under a New Congress"

Join him and other speakers from the private sector, the government, think tanks and academia who will share their perspectives.

This is an excellent opportunity to participate in an examination of public and private sector health care trends, and gain insight into how the economics and politics of health care reform will affect your business organization and constituents.

Our 20th Annual Health Care Forecast Conference will provide an analysis of the recently passed historic Health Care Reform legislation, its impact, and prospects for changes in the legislation. With a divided Congress, a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives and a diminished Democratic majority in the Senate together with a Democratic President, will it be possible for the two parties to achieve some forms of legislative compromise or will two years of gridlock occur? Will the legislation's fate eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court?

During the coming year the Administration will be drafting regulations to implement various aspects of the health reform act. These regulations will importantly affect much of our health care system, including the new health insurance exchanges, employer health plans, and the rules under which health insurers must operate. Will House Republicans be able to block or forestall the Administration's efforts to implement these regulations? The role of the states is important in the implementation of health reform. Will the states form insurance exchanges? How will the new Medicaid requirements affect states with large budget deficits? Insurance premiums are continuing to increase, placing greater financial pressure on the middle class and on employers? Are employers considering shifting their employees onto state insurance exchanges? Will the pilot demonstrations on ACOs lead to new payment and delivery systems, will providers actually take up the challenge and become ACOs, or will ACOs become a mechanism for some providers to increase the market power? These are some of the exciting issues to be discussed.

Distinguished speakers will provide their insights on health care reform from public and private sector perspectives, market challenges for health care providers and a strategic outlook in this new year in light of a change in the balance of power in Washington.

For more information please contact Margaret Wong at 949.824.8474 or mwong@uci.edu.