The serious and novel issues that arise from the good news of extended life expectancy are the focus of the Stanford Center on Longevity. Because some of these issues are best resolved through change in public policy, the Center has created the program: “Politics, Scholars and the Public.” We believe that sustained focus by experts from diverse backgrounds is essential to meaningful progress, as is input from an informed public.
This program brings together academic, political and policy experts with significant segments of the public to have a dialogue about the pros and cons of relevant policy solutions to pressing societal challenges. It is a unique approach to collaborative policy making; an experiment in process as well as content. The premise is that sensible solutions result not only from the participation of informed academic, policy and political experts, but also from the participation of voters.
The Health Security Series.
THE HEALTH SECURITY SERIES
Our ultimate aim is to provide policy makers with findings that help to break political log jams and move forward sorely needed and viable health care reforms. Generous support for this series has been made possible by The Stephen Bechtel Fund.
PHASE ONE
The inaugural effort in the series was called the “Health Security Project: Building Sensible Health Care Solutions.” It sought empirically based, politically feasible solutions to the problems of cost and access to health care in the United States through discussions among academic and political experts, focus groups and polling. The research results were distributed to policy and government officials, accurately predicting the partisan divide around issues of health care reform.
PHASE TWO
Phase Two of the Health Security project, “Medicare Futures– the Views of 65+ Americans,” considered older Americans’ views on health care reform and Medicare solvency and benefits. High numbers of participants expressed concern about Medicare solvency, and did not believe that the health care bill would improve solvency in the Medicare program. Older voters were interested “medical team shops” and increased home health care. Respondents were far less interested in raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67, using income means testing for Medicare benefits or providing Medicare benefits through a health care voucher system.
PHASE THREE
Phase Three of this multi year effort has been launched by The Stanford Center on Longevity and the Stanford Center on Health Policy with the support of the Stephen Bechtel Foundation. This effort involves academic experts, health policy leaders, game developers, professional writers and Center staff. This novel collaboration will result in an educational game, “Save the USS/USA” designed to help Americans better understand certain policy trade offs in solving the nation’s fiscal crisis.
Our nation’s economy will require changes in our current federal revenue and spending policies, including curbing the growth of federal health care spending.
In an interactive and engaging game format, the player is Captain of the ship, the USS/USA. As Captain, the player makes value based choices about defense and domestic spending. However, these choices will not save the ship of state from economic peril unless the player Captain also makes difficult decisions about federal spending on health care.
The game illustrates how these choices affect both the federal deficit and the health of particular types of American citizens-older and younger, middle class and poor.
