A worthwhile event in D.C. tomorrow:

The Dangers of Undermining Patient Choice Lessons from Europe and Canada While there is a growing international consensus that patients should be empowered to be more actively involved in their health care decisions, government policies often limit their options. And these limitations can block patients’ access to innovative, high-quality health care. Nonetheless, members of Congress are proposing initiatives in the U.S. that would limit patient choice and undermine their access to innovative care. How do we know that would happen? Because the European and Canadian health care systems have already incorporated many of those restrictions and know from experience what impact they have. Proposals that would centralize control of the new Medicare drug benefit, for example, would move us down the European path toward restrictions and limited options for seniors. Please join the Institute for Policy Innovation and the Galen Institute on September 19 as we host a Capitol Hill policy briefing featuring international experts who will provide insights into their countries’ health care systems, including their governments’ role in regulating physicians and hospitals and imposing price controls and restrictions on access to medicines. Learn what this could mean for access to modern, innovative quality health care in the U.S. FEATURING: SWEDEN Fredrik Erixon, Chief Economist, Timbro BELGIUM Valentin Petkantchin, Associate Researcher, Institut économique Molinari ITALY Alberto Mingardi, Director, Instituto Bruno Leoni CANADA Brian Lee Crowley, President, Atlantic Institute for Market Studies Moderated by: Merrill Matthews, Resident Scholar, Institute for Policy Innovation & Julian Morris, Executive Director, International Policy Network EVENT DETAILS: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:00 AM – Noon, 210 Cannon House Office Building, Capitol Hill RSVP: Sonia Blumstein, [email protected] or 202-213-0379