Guest Speakers Discuss the Affordable Care Act

This is an opportunity for students to speak with Supreme Court attorneys, Congressional staffers, and other prominent attorneys and experts who have worked directly on the new federal health care law.

There is room for 5-10 students to sit in on a class featuring these speakers. Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you are interested, please RSVP promptly to Prof. Elena Baylis at ebaylis@pitt.edu.

The class is Prof. Baylis’s Law-Making Seminar, which meets on Wednesday mornings. The speakers are participating by videoconference from Washington, DC, and the discussion will begin at 8:15 a.m. Here is the schedule of speakers with their bios:

Affordable Care Act
January 23: Legislating the ACA
Speakers:

• Rodney Whitlock, Health Policy Director, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), former Health Policy Advisor, Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Whitlock worked on the health care bill in the Senate Finance Committee. http://www.gspm.org/rodney-whitlock .
• Liz Fowler, former Chief Health Counsel, Senate Finance Committee. Ms. Fowler also worked on the Senate Finance Committee bill and is frequently named as one of the primary drafters of the legislation. http://mbae.som.yale.edu/docs/biographies/lfowlerbio.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
• Rhett Buttle, National Outreach and Government Affairs Director, Small Business Majority. Mr. Buttle brought the small business perspective to those developing the health care legislation. http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org/about-small-business-majority/team.php

January 30: Litigating the ACA
Speakers:

• Greg Katsas, Partner, Jones Day. Greg argued one of the challenges to the ACA’s constitutionality in the Supreme Court on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business. http://www.jonesday.com/ggkatsas/
• Erin Murphy, Attorney, Bancroft & Associates. Erin wrote the Supreme Court briefs for the states challenging the constitutionality of the ACA. http://www.bancroftpllc.com/professionals/erin-e-murphy/

February 6: Implementing the ACA
Speakers:

• Dan Brown ‘12, Senior State Policy Analyst, American Occupational Therapy Association. Mr. Brown advises AOTA members on implementation of the ACA. http://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrowns.
•  Sarah Dash, Research Professor and Project Director, Georgetown Health Policy Institute. Sarah is also a former Senior Health Policy Aide to Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Governor Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign. Ms. Dash is conducting a multi-state study of implementation of the ACA. http://chir.georgetown.edu/about/faculty_sarah_dash.html