Health Care Reform and Business Forum

Description

Health care costs are on the rise. How will businesses rise to the challenge? What's happening in Washington State to address health care issues? The Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce wants to try to tackle this problem by bringing a lively, informative two hours of ideas.

From noon to 1:00, Bill Kramer of Kramer Health Care Consulting, Paul Guppy of the Washington Policy Center and Representative Eileen Cody will offer an overview and discussion of the scope of the problem and the reforms being research.

From 1:00 to 2:00, small and large companies will breakout. The large company breakout is conducted by Barbara Prowe, Executive Director of Oregon Coalition of Health Care Purchasers and Jack Graves of Burgerville. The large companies will discuss the e-value8 tool which is widely used by business health coalitions, their purchaser members and national employers to assess and manage the quality of their health care vendors. This tool is useful for companies of 200 or more. Nancy Thompson of Biggs Insurance will lead small companies in a discussion of challenges being faced by rising health care costs.

Sponsors: First Independent, Southwest Washington Medical Center, Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital, Kaiser Permanente and The Columbian