State of Democracy Lecture Series

Jonathan Oberlander University of North Carolina "The Future of Medicare"

Oberlander will discuss “The Future of Medicare”

Medicare is the most politically charged of all the “third rails” in the current debates over reducing the debt and deficit, and addressing entitlement spending.

•    How will the politics surrounding Medicare play out?
•    How will the health care reform law affect the program?
•    What is the program’s likely future? Might it look completely different ten years from now?
•    Should Americans be thinking differently about their health care needs as they plan their retirements?

A leading expert on the program will help untangle these vexing questions.

Jonathan Oberlander is Professor of Social Medicine and Health Policy & Management at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His research focuses on health care politics and policy, health reform, and Medicare.  Oberlander is author of The Political Life of Medicare and is co-editor of a 3-volume book series The Social Medicine Reader. His articles have appeared in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, and the Annals of Internal Medicine.  He comments on health reform for a number of media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal,
the New York Review of Books, National Public Radio, the BBC, CBS News and PBS.

Respondents:

Thomas H. Dennison, Director, Program in Health Services Management and Policy; Director, Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion

John L. Palmer, University Professor and Dean Emeritus; Former Public Trustee, Social Security Administration