Illinois Alumni Club of Greater Washington DC

Description: The Institute of Government and Public Affairs of the University of Illinois and the Greater Washington DC University of Illinois Alumni Club are bringing together a panel of experts to discuss this fast changing topic. No matter where health care reform stands come November 12^th, it is sure to still be important and controversial. Among the questions to be addressed on this topic are:

The Institute of Government and Public Affairs of the University of Illinois and the Illinois Alumni Club of Greater Washington DC have brought together a diverse group of experts to discuss the state of health care reform. Alumni of the University of Illinois are invited hear a distinguished panel of experts discuss these issues and participate in a Q & A session. The panel will be comprised of faculty, alumni and other friends of the University of Illinois who have special expertise to share and inform the public dialogue about this timely topic.

Cathy Hurwit chief of staff to Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL, UIUC Education, Elementary Education 1965), where she also has responsibility for universal health care, senior and labor issues. Prior to joining Rep. Schakowsky's staff in 1999, she was a legislative affairs specialist at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and legislative director of Citizen Action, an independent consumer and environmental watchdog organization. With her particular focus on health care, Ms. Hurwit was the founder of the Campaign for Health Security. She also co-chaired the health care task force of Jobs with Justice and provided technical assistance to the President Clinton's Health Care Task Force. Ms. Hurwit has served as energy policy director for Representative Toby Moffett, adviser to the House Government Operations Committee's Subcommittee on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, and legislative director for Representative Ed Markey." Ms. Hurwit received a B.A. from Brown University in 1974.

Victor Kamber, corporate vice president and executive director of the American Income Life Labor Advisory Board, prodigious writer and respected political consultant and commentator. He founded The Kamber Group, one of the nation's largest independently-owned communications consulting and public relations firms. He has many awards including the Hall of Fame Award from PR News. He is a frequent guest on national and local radio and television shows. He has a B.A. from the University of Illinois, M.A. from the University of New Mexico, law degree from the American University and L.L.M. from George Washington University. Mr. Kamber will serve as moderator for the discussion.

Jen Mascho is Senior Legislative Assistant to Representative Tim Johnson (R-IL, UIUC LAS History 1969). Ms. Mascho has been responsible for the Congressman's health care issues for the past five years and covers a number of additional legislative issues including transportation, environment, homeland security and education. She has worked on a number of health care reform issues since joining his office including Medicare Part D implementation and SCHIP. She is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio with a B.A. in political science.

Robert Rich is in his second tenure as the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs of the University of Illinois. He led the Institute from 1986-1997 and returned in 2005. Dr. Rich has joint appointments with the College of Medicine, the Department of Political Science, and the College of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the founder and former director of the Office of Public Leadership at IGPA, and is the coordinator for the local and state government strategic initiative of the Partnership Illinois Program. Dr. Rich is a permanent fellow in the European Center for Comparative Government and Public Policy. He focuses his research on health law and policy, federalism and the role of the states, environmental policy, and science policy. Dr. Rich received his B.A. (with high honors) from Oberlin College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Before joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1986, he served on the faculties of the University of Michigan, Princeton University, and Carnegie-Mellon University.

Dale Schumacher is President of the Rockburn Institute, a health services and consulting organization initially established in 1978 by faculty and staff of The John Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health as a vehicle to conduct academic analysis and disseminate knowledge and its application in an increasingly complex health care environment. He has extensive experience in developing and implementing strategic quality plans for health care systems. Dr. Schumacher currently serves as Crozer-Keystone Health Systems as its Clinical Informatics Officer, Long Island Health Network as its external Quality Compliance Officer and Bon Secours Health System, supporting its clinical improvement collaboratives. He received his B.A. from the University of Arizona, M.D. and Master of Medical Education degrees from the University of Illinois and MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Schumacher is Board Certified in internal medicine.

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