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Public Health Leader Phil Lee Discusses the Presidential Candidates' Proposals for Healthcare Reform
On February 13, the Mailman School hosted Phil Lee, MD, MPH, associate for both the Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, and professor in the Stanford University Program in Human Biology, to discuss how voters can evaluate the various healthcare reform proposals being presented by presidential candidates from both parties.
In his discussion, Dr. Lee began by summarizing the multiple reasons why healthcare reform is so important: the extraordinarily high cost of healthcare services; the fact that nearly 50 million Americans lack health insurance (and millions more are underinsured); and the cross-national studies that suggest that the U.S. does comparatively poorly on a range of healthcare indicators. Dr. Lee then summarized the candidates' healthcare reform proposals, pointing out the broad differences between the Democratic and Republican approaches, but noting that none of the candidates have addressed a key issue: the significant variation in cost and access in different parts of the country that could require different reform approaches in different regions.
Prior to his current position at Stanford, Dr. Lee served as the Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs for both President Johnson and President Clinton. During his first two years as the Assistant Secretary under President Johnson, Congress enacted more health legislation than all the previous Congresses put together.
Dr. Lee has published many books including The Nation's Health and Health Policies for the 21st Century: Challenges and Recommendations for the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
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