Health care forum Tuesday night to discuss government vs. market solutions

PORT ANGELES — The third in a series of free forums on health care reform cosponsored by the League of Women Voters and Olympic Medical Center will be held Tuesday night at Peninsula College.

The two-hour forum focusing on market and government solutions to health care costs and accessibility will start at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater.

Speaking will be Aaron Katz, University of Washington School of Public Health principal lecturer on health services and global health, and Dr. Roger Stark, Washington Policy Center health care policy analyst.

Katz will address the public policy point of view, and Stark will discuss the point of view of markets.

A panel discussion featuring questions from the audience will follow the presentations.

The forum series is emphasizing the need to reduce health care costs and how the complex nature of financing and delivery systems make reform challenging, said Bertha D. Cooper, forum coordinator for the Clallam County chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Tonight’s forum contrasts the current roles of government and markets in providing health care, she said.

The first forum held in May focused on rising costs, and the second in July discussed moral and ethical questions surrounding the health care debate.

The final forum in October will be a discussion of essential changes needed and options for broad reform, Cooper said.

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