Upcoming Symposium: The Role of States in Federal Health Care Reform

I’m pleased to announce the Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy’s 2010-2011 Symposium, exploring “The Role of States in Federal Health Reform.” The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, represents the most significant change to the United States’ health care system in a generation. The law also expands, to an unprecedented degree, the role of the federal government in health care. States traditionally had primary authority for regulating health care providers and insurers, and protecting health care consumers. Now, under ACA, states’ discretion to enact separate laws has been reduced, and their responsibility to implement federal law has been increased. That dynamic has generated a range of responses, including, most notably, several states’ lawsuits challenging ACA as an unconstitutional exercise of federal power.

The Symposium provides a unique, timely opportunity to explore these issues. ACA marks a critical juncture in our country’s history for both welfare policy and federal-state relations. The speakers, including national health law and federalism scholars as well as Kansas state government representatives will explore these tensions – digesting key provisions of the 900-page statute; explaining the pros and cons of federal, as opposed to state-based, health reform; and detailing Kansas’ particular response to the new federal laws.

Speakers and topics include:

• Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, Professor of Law, University of Kansas, Welcome and Introductory Remarks


• Jonathan Adler, Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, “Cooperation, Commandeering, or Crowding Out? Federal Intervention and State Choices in Health Care Policy”


• Tim Greaney, Professor of Law, Saint Louis University School of Law, “Designing Health Insurance Exchanges to Promote Competition”


• Mark Hall, Professor of Law, Wake Forest University School of Law, “The Role of Risk Adjustment under the Affordable Care Act”


• Abigail Moncrieff, Associate Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, “The Positive Case for Federal Health Care Regulation”


• Sandy Praeger, Kansas Insurance Commissioner, “A View from the Insurance Commissioner on the Health Care Reform”


• Dr. Andrew Allison, Executive Director, Kansas Health Policy Authority Board, “State Choices and Challenges in the Wake of Federal Health Reform Legislation”


• Dr. Marcia Nielsen, Vice Chancellor for Public Policy and Planning, University of Kansas Medical Center, “Understanding Federal Health Reform: Setting the Stage for State Implementation”

The Symposium will conclude with a round table discussion with the speakers and participants. Kansas and Missouri CLE credits (7 hours) pending. There is no charge for attendance, but please register online here.