Watch video of the conference panels and lunch, and check out the panelists' Power Point presentations!Legislative update:

Panel 1 - Implementation of federal health care reform in other states:

Panel 2 - Implementation of federal health care reform in Washington state:

Keynote lunch with Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers:

Watch TVW's special coverage of our Health Care Conference in the June 8th edition of "The Impact":

Conference Power Point Presentations:

• PPACA's Shaky Rollout: AK, OR, CO, CA, & RI, by John Graham
• Medicaid and Mandates: State Responses to Federal Health Reform, by Christie Herrera
• Healthcare Reform and Exchange Impacts, by Jim Grazko
• Health Innovation for Washington: A Comprehensive Blueprint for Modernizing Medicaid, Improving Quality of Care and More Effectively Containing Costs, by Doug Porter

Now approved for four CE and CLE credits! (Must be purchased separately.)

Please join us for our 9th Annual Health Care Policy Conference Tuesday, June 7, at the SeaTac Doubletree Hotel. The half-day conference is regularly attended by over 300 people including state legislators, local officials, business owners, the biotech community, patient advocacy groups and industry representatives. It will include a Legislative Session update with leaders from the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee and the Governor's office, and expert panelists will review implementation plans for federal health care reform in Washington as well as in other states.

Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) will be this year's keynote speaker.

Online registration is now closed. Please register at the conference.

Registration options:

• $75 for lunch and conference
• $65 for lunch and conference (*WPC supporter rate)
• $35 for lunch only
• $30 for lunch only (*WPC supporter rate)
• $500 for a table of 8

• $20 for 4 CE Credits
• $20 for 4 CLE Credits

*WPC supporter rate is for individuals who have contributed $50 or more in the last year.

For more information, contact Lindsay LeVeque at events@washingtonpolicy.org or 206-937-9691. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Stephanie True at strue@washingtonpolicy.org or 206-937-9691.

Conference agenda:

7:30am Registration opens and continental breakfast served.

8:00am - 8:45am 2011 Legislative Session update. A representative from the Governor’s office, as well as Republican and Democrat health care leaders, will discuss current health care legislation and take questions from attendees. Moderated by Allen Schauffler, KING TV.

• Sen. Randi Becker, ranking minority member, Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee
• Sen. Karen Keiser, chair, Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee
• Jonathan Seib, Health Care Policy Advisor to Gov. Gregoire

8:45am - 9:00am Break

9:00am - 10:15am Panel 1: Implementation of federal health care reform in other states. Moderated by Dr. Roger Stark, WPC Health Care Policy Analyst.

• John R. Graham, Health Policy Analyst, Pacific Research Institute, California
• Christie Herrera, Director, Health and Human Services Task Force, American Legislative Exchange Council

10:15am - 10:30am Break

10:30am - 11:45am Panel 2: Implementation of federal health care reform in Washington state. Moderated by Sen. Linda Evans Parlette.

• Doug Porter, Director, Washington State Health Care Authority
• Dean Martz, MD, President of the Washington State Medical Association
• Jim Grazko, Vice President, Premera Blue Cross

12:00pm - 1:30pm Keynote lunch with U.S. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers will discuss the implementation of federal health care reform.

Elected in 2004, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers has been active in introducing proposals to reform health care. WPC recently partnered with McMorris Rodgers to write an op-ed for The Seattle Times on our block grant waiver recommendation, which would give states more flexibility in their health care programs. The Congresswoman has also co-sponsored Health IT legislation and is helping to lead a statewide Health IT task force to position Washington state for future advancements.

Senator Randi Becker is a third-generation Washingtonian who has lived in the area all her life. Sen. Becker has worked as a flight attendant, realtor, and in the medical field where she eventually became administrator of a multi-million dollar surgical center in Puyallup. Since her election to the Washington State Senate in 2008, she has served in numerous capacities including positions on the Health and Long-term Care, Higher Education and Workforce Development, and Agriculture and Rural Economic Development committees.

John R. Graham is Director of Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, a Senior Fellow of the National Center for Policy Analysis, and an Adjunct Scholar of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Mr. Graham speaks frequently on health reform on radio and television, and at meetings in the U.S., Canada and Europe. He is the author of a number of studies covering topics as diverse as the regulatory burden of the Food and Drug Administration, the taxation and regulation of private health insurance, and the future of Medicare after national health care reform. Graham is also the author of the U.S. Index of Health Ownership and the editor of a book addressing What States Can Do to Reform Health Care: A Free Market Primer.

Jim Grazko is Vice President and General Manager of Underwriting and Contract Services for Premera Blue Cross. Jim has oversight responsibility for pricing and underwriting for all health, life, disability and stop-loss products. He also oversees production of group, member and provider contracts. In Premera’s efforts to implement the Affordable Care Act, Jim provides direction to help Premera coordinate implementation of state exchanges. In addition, he participates as a member of the Washington State Health Insurance Pool (WSHIP) Board of Directors where he chairs the Tool Committee and serves as a member of the Grievance Committee.

Christie Herrera is director of the Health and Human Services Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council. Since Christie joined ALEC in 2005, 30 states have enacted model legislation drafted by ALEC’s Health and Human Services Task Force. Christie previously served two years as director of public affairs at The James Madison Institute in Tallahassee. Prior to that, Christie spent three years at the Cato Institute, where she directed all policy events at Cato and on Capitol Hill. Christie has testified before 11 state legislatures, and she has been a keynote speaker to legislative caucuses, nonprofit organizations, trade associations and business groups across the country.

Sen. Karen Keiser has been a Washington State Senator since 2001 and has earned a reputation as an advocate for improving the nation’s health care system. Before coming to the senate, she served in the state House of Representatives from 1996 to 2001. Karen is chair of the Senate Health & Long-term Care Committee, where she works to improve the state’s health care delivery system. She also sits on the Senate Financial Institutions; Housing & Insurance; Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection; Rules; and Ways & Means committees.

Dr. Dean Martz is the president of the Washington State Medical Association, representing over 9,800 physicians and surgeons throughout Washington state. Dr. Martz is a board-certified neurosurgeon at Inland Neurosurgery and Spine Associates in Spokane. He has served on both the Spokane County Medical Society Board of Trustees as well as the WSMA Board of Trustees for several years. He is also a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.

Sen. Linda Evans Parlette is currently in her third Senate term. She serves on the Ways and Means, Health and Long-term Care, and Rules committees. Since 2006 she has served as the Senate Republican Caucus Chair. In addition, Parlette was chosen in 2011 to be the Republican lead for the Senate capital budget. She has previously served on the Health Care, Agriculture and Ecology, and Appropriations committees. Patlette has also worked on the governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care in 2006, and the Joint Select Committee on Health Care Reform in 2010.

Doug Porter is the new administrator to the Washington State Health Care Authority, as well as the State’s Medicaid Director. Before his appointment in May 2010, he served as the Assistant Secretary of the Health and Recovery Services Administration in the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). He previously headed state Medicaid programs in Maine and California, and he holds national planning positions with the National Association of Medicaid Directors (formerly NASMD), where he sits on the Executive Committee.

Jonathan Seib joined Governor Gregoire’s Executive Policy Office as Health Policy Advisor in January 2007 after serving on the Committee Services staff of the Washington State Senate for 18 years. Between 1988 and 1996, he was counsel to the Commerce and Labor Committee with responsibility in the areas of labor relations and employment standards. He has also served on the Health and Long-term Care Committee. In April 2010, the governor assigned him to coordinate Washington’s implementation of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Title Sponsor:

• Premera Blue Cross

Sponsors:

• AstraZenica Pharmaceuticals
• ClearPoint
• Dendreon
• Eli Lilly and Company
• First Choice Health Network
• Johnson & Johnson
• Physicians Insurance
• Proliance Surgeons
• Providence Health & Services
• Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
• Wal-Mart
• Washington Association of Health Underwriters
• Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association
• Washington State Medical Association

Co-presenters:

• Association of Builders & Contractors
• Association of Washington Business
• Bellevue Chamber of Commerce
• Discovery Institute
• East King County Chambers of Commerce Legislative Coalition
• Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce
• National Federation of Independent Business
• Puget Sound Health Alliance
• Renton Chamber of Commerce
• Seattle CityClub
• Washington Retail Association
• Washington Technology Industry Association