The Future of Health
Care — Insurance, Access to Care, Prescription Benefits — to be Discussed by UA
Health-Care Policy Expert, Oct. 3
Critical issues facing the U.S.
health-care system and the potential impact of the mid-term elections will be discussed
by Daniel Derksen, MD, a nationally noted health-care policy expert and associate
vice president for health equity, outreach and interprofessional activities at
the University of Arizona Sciences. The free
lecture will include time for questions and answers.
Contact: Tracy Shake, 520-626-6046,
shake@arthritis.arizona.edu
Sept. 26, 2018
WRITERS/EDITORS NOTE: Dr. Derksen is
available for interviews; to make arrangements, please email Sharon Vanskiver, UA
Zuckerman College of Public Health, sharonv@email.arizona.edu
TUCSON, Ariz. – The critical
state of the U.S. health-care system and the potential impact of the mid-term
elections will be the topic of a lecture by University of Arizona health-care
policy expert Daniel Derksen, MD, on Wednesday, Oct. 3, from 6 to 7:15 p.m.,
at Banner
– University of Arizona Medical Center Tucson, DuVal Auditorium,
1501 N. Campbell Ave.
Presented by the UA Arthritis Center in
partnership with the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, the
event is free and open to the public and will include time for questions and
answers.
Seating for the lecture is limited and prior
registration is requested. For more
information or to register, please visit the UA Arthritis Center website, arthritis.arizona.edu/tucson-lecture-series,
call 520-626-5040 or email livinghealthy@arthritis.arizona.edu
|
Dr.
Derksen presenting at the 45th annual Arizona Rural Health Conference in
Flagstaff, Ariz., July 26-27. Photo: Paul Akmajian, Arizona Center for
Rural Health.
|
In his presentation, Dr. Derksen will express his personal opinions based
on more than 30 years of experience as a family physician and in applied health
policy, outcomes, education and workforce research to inform the public,
providers and policymakers. He does not represent the positions of the UA or
the Arizona Board of Regents.
While presidential elections are held every four
years, mid-term elections are held near the mid-point of a president’s
four-year term. This year on Nov. 6, federal offices up for election include all
435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats.
Dr. Derksen will discuss how the elections could dramatically
impact all aspects of the U.S. health-care systems and health care — including Medicare,
Medicaid, private health insurance, prescription benefits, access to health
care, costs, payment, health outcomes and the health-care economy — at the national
and state levels.
Certain groups could be disproportionately
affected, including the disabled, low-income, rural and older adult populations,
many of whom are enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health
Insurance Program (CHIP). In 2018, 40
percent of Americans are enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP (130
million of the 328 million total U.S.
population) and 44 percent of Arizonans (3.1 million of the 7 million
total Arizona population) are enrolled in Medicaid,
CHIP or Medicare.
Among Medicare beneficiaries, the
most common chronic conditions include arthritis; high blood pressure,
high cholesterol and heart disease; and diabetes. Many have two or more chronic
conditions. The costs of chronic conditions have far-reaching implications for
the health-care system.
About
the Living Healthy With Arthritis lectures
The UA Arthritis Center offers validation of parking tickets
for the Banner – UMC Tucson Visitor/Patient Parking Garage during “Living
Healthy With Arthritis” lectures. Tickets can be validated by a UA Arthritis Center
staff member in the hospital lobby before or after the lecture.
If you have questions concerning
access, wish to request a Sign Language interpreter or disability-related
accommodations, please contact Tracy Shake, 520-626-5040, email: livinghealthy@arthritis.arizona.edu
The lecture is part of the “Living Healthy
with Arthritis” series of free monthly talks presented by the UA Arthritis
Center at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and supported through the Susan
and Saul Tobin Endowment for Research and Education in Rheumatology.
About Dan Derksen, MD
Recently
appointed
associate vice president for health equity,
outreach and interprofessional activities at the UA Health
Sciences, Dr.
Derksen also is the Walter H. Pearce Endowed Chair and professor
of public health policy and management in the UA Zuckerman College of Public
Health, with a joint appointment as professor in the UA College of Medicine –
Tucson Department
of Family and Community Medicine. As director of the Arizona Center for
Rural Health, Dr. Derksen’s current service, research and education
activities include informing legislative, regulatory and program policy to
improve health equity; increasing health insurance coverage; reducing the
uninsured; narrowing health disparities; developing, implementing and
evaluating interprofessional serving/learning sites; and working to assure a
well-trained and distributed health workforce to meet the health needs of all
Arizonans.
About
the University of Arizona Arthritis Center
The University of
Arizona Arthritis Center, a Center of Excellence at the UA
College of Medicine – Tucson, is a
research leader with a focus on identifying the causes of arthritis and
developing improved diagnosis, measurement and treatment of the disease. For
more information, please visit arthritis.arizona.edu
About the
University of Arizona Health Sciences
The
University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical
research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the
UA Colleges of Medicine (Phoenix and Tucson), Nursing, Pharmacy and Mel and
Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson
and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these
vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and
the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research,
patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA
Health Sciences employs approximately 4,000 people, has approximately 800
faculty members and garners more than $140
million in research grants and contracts annually.
