Healthcare & Life Sciences Working Group

Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services
Dr. JudyAnn Bigby has been a regular participant at meetings
of the PBLN Healthcare/Life Sciences Working Group

Co-Chaired by Jim Roosevelt, President & CEO of Tufts Health Plan, and Joshua Boger, former President & CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Coordinatored by Valerie Fleishman, Executive Director of the New England Healthcare Network (NEHI), and Brian Carey, Partner with the law firm Foley Hoag LLP, this group has addressed the Massachusetts plan to expand healthcare coverage to include all residents, the urgency of sustained federal funding of biomedical research, public strategies for retaining life science industry businesses, and the value of corporate health and wellness programs. Currently they are looking at issues surrounding national and Massachusetts healthcare reform efforts, and at strategies for sustainable development of the life sciences as both social/health innovators and as a source of economic growth.

Healthcare/Life Sciences Policy Statement
As progressive business leaders, we believe Massachusetts should continue to lead the nation as an innovator in health, health care and life sciences.

Health Reform and Cost Containment:
The Next Frontier
At the fall 2009 PBLN Summit, members of the Healthcare and Life Sciences Working Group discussed current issues in the field. Moderated by James R. Roosevelt, Jr., panelists were:
Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, Massachusetts Secretary of Health & Human Services
Robert Kuttner, Founder & Co-Editor, The American Prospect
Paul F. Levy, President & CEO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Philip Edmundson, President & CEO, William Gallagher Associates & Chair, Mass ACT (Affordable Care Today) Coalition
Dr. Gene Lindsey, President and CEO, Atrius Health
Richard Pops, President & CEO, Alkermes


Values Statement
As progressive business leaders, we believe Massachusetts should continue to lead the nation as an innovator in health, health care and life sciences. To that end:

1. We stand by the Massachusetts model for health reform achieving near universal coverage; and we are committed to universal health care as a right, not a privilege for all Americans
2. We support policies for cost containment in order to make universal coverage a sustainable and affordable reality
3. We support polices that promote innovation in health care and life sciences
4. We support policies that enhance the health of all our citizens including strategies to promote health care quality and disease prevention
5. We support policies that address disparities in access to/quality of healthcare for the disadvantaged, racial/ethnic minorities and those with economic barriers to access.

Policy Statement: Healthcare Cost Containment via Payment Reform

PBLN supports universal healthcare for all Americans as a right and not a privilege. In fully supporting Massachusetts’ innovative approach to achieving near-universal coverage, we view the next frontier for Massachusetts and the nation to be cost containment so that universal health care is affordable and sustainable. We support the findings of the Governor’s Special Payment Commission to shift Massachusetts toward an all-payer global payment model over the next five years. We are committed to deep engagement over the impact of this shift on all stakeholders including consumers, businesses, physicians and hospitals, disadvantaged populations, and to innovation in the health care and life sciences sectors.

 
The above policy statement reflects the position of PBLN. This position was developed by the PBLN Healthcare/Life Sciences Working Group and adopted by the PBLN Board of Directors. We encourage individual business leaders to “opt-in” by signing on to our policy statements, which PBLN may use publicly to advance awareness of our position. If you would like to opt-in and sign on to any or all of these three policy statements, you may do so by emailing PBLN Director of Operations Aaron Chalek at aaron@pbln.org.

Member Spotlight

Diane Hessan, President & CEO - Communispace
According to Advertising Age Communispace is one of the fastest growing marketing and technology companies in the country, with a Blue Chip client list that would make a Madison Avenue giant jealous. A pioneer in creating online communities to help marketers deeply engage customers, Diane helped found Communispace in 1999 and hasn't looked back.