Agenda 2008 The American Presidency

As part of its Agenda 2008 initiative, the nonpartisan Center for the Study of the Presidency (CSP) is organizing working sessions on critical national challenges for the 2008 Presidential candidates. The suite of health care concerns – soaring medical costs, uninsured citizens, the need to protect against and respond to natural disasters, pandemics, and possible bioterrorist threats, to emphasize prevention and preparedness, to strengthen health-related research, and to improve the delivery of quality medical and public health services – are issues that must be at the top of candidates’ lists. These concerns also underscore that strong leadership in the White House and in Federal agencies on science, health, and technology is more important than ever. The Center believes it can help find a path forward to improve health. This belief is based on experience. CSP has broken through partisan barriers and bureaucratic stovepipes on public diplomacy, smuggled nuclear weapons, homeland security, and the loss of civility and creativity in government.

As the Senior Advisor on Health, Science, and Medicine, Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A., will lead the Center’s Agenda 2008 health care initiative. Dr. Blumenthal served as U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary of Women’s Health, as a White House advisor on health issues, and as a research branch chief at the National Institutes of Health. Utilizing a model that the Center for the Study of the Presidency first developed to help Secretary Ridge and his senior staff launch the Department of Homeland Security.

CSP will convene a wide range of experts from the health community, Nobel Laureates, public policy organizations, academia and current or former government officials for frank, off-the-record discussions of each of the health care issues identified above. These sessions and conferences will produce one or more briefing papers that describe the nature of the challenge, set forth various policy options and the resources required to pursue each, and explain why Presidential action is critical to overcoming the national health vulnerability. A national conference will then be convened to examine lessons learned from previous Administrations and to gather broad input across expertise and geographic regions of the country. A national poll will be conducted of public and health care providers’ attitudes, hopes and expectations for health care in the next Administration. Findings from the national poll and recommendations from the working sessions and the national conference, summarized in an Executive Report, will build common ground among the participants, frame the Presidential debates on science, health and technology issues, and enable the next Administration in 2008 to begin its policy deliberations with a set of issues, strategies, and solutions with the support of committed Members of Congress, their staff, the private sector, public policy organizations, health groups, the media, and the American public to accelerate progress on health in the United States and globally.

Working Session Topics:

For more information on the Center's Agenda 2008: Health and Medicine program, please contact Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, M.D., at 202-872-9800 or via e-mail.

Center for the Study of the Presidency Center for the Study of the Presidency