Gerald Friedman PhD, Economist, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Gerald Friedman PhD, Economist, University of Massachusetts-Amherst will tour Oregon mid-May, speaking to health care practitioners, business leaders, health care activists and other interested persons around the state. The Oregon tour is sponsored by Oregon chapters of Physicians for a National Health Program, Health Care for ALL Oregon, and Main Street Alliance of Oregon.   Dr. Friedman will speak in Pendleton and LaGrande on May 13, Eugene on May 14, Medford on May 15, Corvallis on May 16, Portland on May 17, Bend on May 18, and Portland on May 19. See poster with links to towns for more information (either attached or at www.hcao.org /current-events/).   A recent fiscal study by Dr. Friedman reports that upgrading the nation’s Medicare program and  expanding it to cover people of all ages would yield over a half-trillion dollars in efficiency savings in its first year of operation, enough to pay for high quality comprehensive benefits for all residents of the United States at a lower cost to most individuals, families and businesses.   Dr. Friedman’s study is based on analysis of HR 676, a federal bill sponsored by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, extending Medicare to all US residents within a single risk pool, frequently described as a “single payer” financing method. The study also analyses the nation’s current health insurance system, where competition among private payers leads to administrative redundancy which increases costs without improving health care outcomes.   In addition to Dr. Friedman’s study of HR676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for ALL, Dr. Friedman has published four state studies of single risk pool health systems.