Symposium Agenda

Congress and President Obama are poised to push for dramatic reforms of the U.S. healthcare system. But if the debate ignores the necessary systemic changes in the way plan sponsors select coverage and patients interact with the healthcare system, then the opportunity for true reform will have been missed. Sustainable change calls for carefully rethinking how healthcare is delivered and how providers, plan sponsors and consumers are held accountable for the decisions they make. An important role for federal public policy will be to encourage this seismic shift in the system. James Klein will kick off this groundbreaking meeting with an explanation of why employee benefit plan design, communication and administration must intersect with public policy imperatives and how behavioral economics can help lawmakers, regulators and plan sponsors enable better individual decisions around health and healthcare.

Let's explore new ways to think about healthcare, behavior and change. Classical economics assumes that people are rational and act in their own self interest; behavioral economics looks at the real world, focusing not on how people ought to act but instead on how they do act. Some of the nation's key thought leaders in this area will introduce you to a set of select tools … the proven psychological principles that guide people in their day-to-day behavior. Learn how this approach “cracked the code” to significantly increase participation in personal retirement savings, and how this same model can be successfully applied in healthcare. Once grounded with an understanding of these guiding principles, attendees will find the applications limitless and intriguing.

Our keynote speaker, Chris Jennings, will offer more evidence and testimonial about the importance of behavioral economics and the future of healthcare.

A deeper understanding of why people do what they do offers the potential to much more effectively promote positive change in healthcare. Using one employer's recent success in applying behavioral economics to health benefits as a useful template, leading plan sponsors will share their points of view about pressing healthcare issues that are ready for this new approach. Smoking cessation? Obesity? More cost-effective treatment choices? Let's open the floor … and together engage in a lively discussion about key application areas for this new approach to effective change.

This symposium is a beginning. Breakthroughs in behavioral economics provide us with new ways to deal with current and emerging challenges in healthcare. These issues bring together the communities of interest represented here – academics, plan sponsors and public policymakers. How do we get started? How can we actively engage key stakeholders to move from theory to practice? How do we ensure that policymakers address behavioral economics concepts as healthcare reform legislation is developed? Share in a practical discussion that takes stock of key stakeholders and gain workable insights that will help us all more quickly drive to success. Every movement has its early adopters and its laggards. This session will appeal to the pioneers.